On Thursday, the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) declared its full support for the Texas National Guard’s efforts to secure the southern border. This move highlights a growing divide between state and federal approaches to immigration under the Biden administration’s disastrous open borders policies.
The NBPC, representing over 18,000 members, praised Texas’ initiatives to stem the unprecedented flow of illegal immigrants into the U.S. “TX NG and rank-and-file BP agents work together and respect each other’s jobs,” the union stated.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has been at the center of the political firestorm. Texas recently fortified the border with razor wire, even after a Supreme Court decision last week that authorized federal agents to cut through the barriers.
Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has contested Texas’ control over border areas, specifically in Eagle Pass. The administration’s demand this week for access to these areas was met with resistance from Texas National Guard members, who, as of the unilateral Friday deadline imposed by DHS, reported no federal presence in the disputed zone.
The operational figures released on Friday by Customs and Border Protection show a record of 302,034 encounters occurred last month along the Southwest border. Abbott’s measures, such as deploying razor wire and erecting barriers, have been credited by residents for a decrease in illegal crossings. Eagle Pass taxi driver Raul Villanueva observed, “They’re getting backlog in Mexico, now they know they’re getting arrested they don’t want to cross.”
Abbott’s efforts have garnered significant support from Republican governors nationwide, further solidifying a unified front against what they view as lax federal immigration policies that unconstitutionally ignore duly enacted federal law. “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,” the Republican Governor’s Association affirmed this week.
President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) are among the growing number of significant Republican voices supporting Texas.
In contrast, Democrats in the Texas delegation have expressed alarm at Abbott’s approach. Reps. Veronica Escobar (D-TX) and Joaquin Castro (D-TX) criticized Abbott’s stand while demanding aggressive federal intervention. Castro’s call for “sole federal control of the Texas National Guard now” reflects the zeal many Democrats have to escalate the dangerous situation in an attempt to preserve the unchecked wave of unidentified and unvetted illegal migrants from around the globe walking across the border into the U.S.
