Joe Biden Urged to Seize Texas National Guard From Greg Abbott Over Border

A Texas congressman has urged President Biden to take the state's National Guard under federal control if Republican Governor Greg Abbott defies a Supreme Court ruling allowing federal agents to remove razor wire from a section of the U.S.-Mexico border.

The call was made by Democratic Representative Joaquin Castro after Abbott posted on X, formerly Twitter, saying the Texas National Guard would continue to "hold the line in Eagle's Pass," a popular migrant crossing point, stating: "Texas will not back down from our efforts to secure the border in Biden's absence."

Castro re-shared Abbott's post on his own X account, adding: "Governor Greg Abbott is using the Texas National Guard to obstruct and create chaos at the border.

"If Abbott is defying yesterday's Supreme Court ruling, President Biden needs to establish sole federal control of the Texas National Guard now."

Illegal immigration over the U.S.-Mexico border has surged over the past couple of years with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection recording 2.4 million migrant encounters during the 2023 fiscal year, up from 1.7 million in 2021.

On Monday, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to approve a request from the White House to overturn a ruling issued in October by the Fifth Circuit, which had blocked federal agents from cutting down wire installed by Texan authorities to stop migrant crossings. It came after a woman and two children drowned on January 12 whilst attempting to cross the Rio Grande River from Mexico to reach Eagle Pass.

Camilo Montoya-Galvez, a CBS News immigration and politics reporter, shared footage on Tuesday via X which he claimed showed the Texan National Guard constructing additional razor-wire fencing along the Mexican border.

He wrote: "Texas National Guard soldiers are setting up more razor wire here in Eagle Pass to repel illegal crossings. Yesterday, the Supreme Court allowed the Biden administration to remove this wire but Texas is still blocking Border Patrol from processing migrants in this area."

Whilst state National Guards ordinarily fall under the control of their respective governors, they can be federalized using a mechanism known as Title 10 status, meaning they are placed under the control of the President and Defense Secretary with active duty officers taking day-to-day command.

This was used by the George Bush administration in response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and has also been used in recent years to take control of National Guard troops for deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 1957, President Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard after they were initially ordered by the state governor to block Black students from attending the Little Rock Central High School during the civil rights era. Following this, the National Guard helped protect the Black students as they attended the school, along with federal troops from the 101st Airborne Division.

Referencing this precedent on X, Will Bunch, a national opinion columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer, commented: "It's time for Biden to federalize the Texas National Guard and maybe send in the 101st Airborne like Little Rock. This nonsense needs to stop."

Newsweek reached out to the office of Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Military Department by telephone and email respectively, at around 3.30 a.m. ET. This article will be updated if a comment is received.

The Texas Nationalist Movement (TNM) has renewed its calls for the Lone Star State to become an independent nation in response to the ongoing migrant crisis.

In a statement sent to Newsweek in response to Monday's Supreme Court ruling, the TNM urged Abbott and the state legislature "to call an immediate special session to explore Texas independence so we may finally protect our border."

Update 01/24/24, 10:38 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with reaction to Monday's Supreme Court ruling from the Texas Nationalist Movement.

Correction 01/24/24, 12:20 p.m. ET: The immigration figures in this article have been updated.