25 Republican Governors Joint Statement Supporting State of Texas’ Refusal to Comply with Supreme Court Order on Border Enforcement
Earlier this week, 25 Republican governors released a joint statement of support for Texas Governor Abbott for “stepping up to protect American citizens from historic levels of illegal immigrants, deadly drugs like fentanyl, and terrorists entering our country”.
Iowa governor Kim Reynolds issued the joint statement with 24 Republican governors in support of Governor Abbott and Texas’ “constitutional right to self-defense”:
“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.”
Other signatories include: Governor Kay Ivey (AL), Governor Mike Dunleavy (AK), Governor Sarah Sanders (AR), Governor Ron DeSantis (FL), Governor Brian Kemp (GA), Governor Brad Little (ID), Governor Eric Holcomb (IN), Governor Jeff Landry (LA), Governor Tate Reeves (MS), Governor Mike Parson (MO), Governor Greg Gianforte (MT), Governor Jim Pillen (NE), Governor Joe Lombardo (NV), Governor Chris Sununu (NH), Governor Doug Burgum (ND), Governor Mike DeWine (OH), Governor Kevin Stitt (OK), Governor Henry McMaster (SC), Governor Kristi Noem (SD), Governor Bill Lee (TN), Governor Spencer Cox (UT), Governor Glenn Youngkin (VA), Governor Jim Justice (WV), and Governor Mark Gordon (WY).
In response to the joint statement issued by the governors and Texas’ refusal to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling this week allowing the U.S. government to remove the state’s razor-wire barriers in the Rio Grande, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) issued the following statement:
“We condemn the constitutional stand-off that the governor of Texas is manufacturing, and the loss of life and humanity Texas’ actions are producing,” said Efrén C. Olivares, interim director of strategic litigation at the Southern Poverty Law Center. “What’s more outrageous is that the governors of 25 other states — including every governor in the Deep South — have signed a letter supporting this defiance of the U.S. constitution and engaging in dog-whistle politics that energize extremist actors and endanger the lives of vulnerable people.”
“Gov. George Wallace [see video below] stood in a schoolhouse door and pledge to defend ‘segregation forever’ to deny Black Alabamians the equal right to an education. Gov. Abbott is stringing up razor wire along the Rio Grande to deny Black and Brown people fleeing persecution the right to apply for asylum. This flagrant disregard for human and constitutional rights harkens back to the worst of the South’s history. We will not allow that history to be repeated. The SPLC will continue its legacy of working in the courts and in community to ensure the promise of equal justice under law is a reality for all,” concluded Olivares.
KJ