Twenty-five Republican governors released a joint letter declaring their unconditional support for Texas in its "constitutional right to self-defense" in the face of the "invasion" of illegal immigrants in the country. The signatories accuse the Biden administration of leaving "Americans and our country completely vulnerable to unprecedented illegal immigration pouring across the Southern border." Further, they say, President Biden and his administration have "attacked and sued" Greg Abbott for trying to "protect the sovereignty of our states and our nation." The only GOP governor who did not sign the letter was Phil Scott, of Vermont.
Republican Governors Band Together, Issue Joint Statement Supporting Texas’ Constitutional Right to Self-Defense ⬇️https://t.co/PdDTUeZB69
— The RGA (@GOPGovs) January 25, 2024
Defending Texas' use of "every tool and strategy"
The statement, accompanied on social media by messages from conservative governors noting that they "stand with Texas," asserts that the crisis has reached this point because "the Biden Administration continues to attack Texas and refuses to take action or responsibility for the crisis at the Southern border."
President Biden and his Administration have left Americans and our country completely vulnerable to unprecedented illegal immigration pouring across the Southern border. Instead of upholding the rule of law and securing the border, the Biden Administration has attacked and sued Texas for stepping up to protect American citizens from historic levels of illegal immigrants, deadly drugs like fentanyl, and terrorists entering our country.
We stand in solidarity with our fellow Governor, Greg Abbott, and the State of Texas in utilizing every tool and strategy, including razor wire fences, to secure the border. We do it in part because the Biden Administration is refusing to enforce immigration laws already on the books and is illegally allowing mass parole across America of migrants who entered our country illegally.
The authors of the U.S. Constitution made clear that in times like this, states have a right of self-defense, under Article 4, Section 4 and Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution. Because the Biden Administration has abdicated its constitutional compact duties to the states, Texas has every legal justification to protect the sovereignty of our states and our nation.
Vermont governor absent again
The letter includes the signatures of: Gov. Kay Ivey (Alabama), Gov. Mike Dunleavy (Alaska), Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Arkansas), Gov. Ron DeSantis (Florida), Gov. Brian Kemp (Georgia), Gov. Brad Little (Idaho), Gov. Eric Holcomb (Indiana), Gov. Kim Reynolds (Iowa), Gov. Jeff Landry (Louisiana), Gov. Tate Reeves (Mississippi), Gov. Mike Parson (Missouri), Gov. Greg Gianforte (Montana), Gov. Jim Pillen (Nebraska), Gov. Joe Lombardo (Nevada), Gov. Chris Sununu (New Hampshire), Gov. Doug Burgum (North Dakota), Gov. Mike DeWine (Ohio), Gov. Kevin Stitt (Oklahoma), Gov. Henry McMaster (South Carolina), Gov. Kristi Noem (South Dakota), Gov. Bill Lee (Tennessee), Gov. Spencer Cox (Utah), Gov. Glenn Youngkin (Virginia), Gov. Jim Justice (West Virginia), and Gov. Mark Gordon (Wyoming).
The only governor who did not sign the letter was Phil Scott, of Vermont, in line with the position he has maintained on this issue. In 2018, he indicated he was "not eager" to send the state's National Guard to assist the Border Patrol, and in 2023, he was also the only one of his conservative colleagues not to sign a letter to President Biden demanding more information about the situation on the border with Mexico.
