The federal government has rejected measures announced by Texas Governor Greg Abbott to stem illegal immigration into the Lone Star state.
The Republican Party governor said on Twitter on Tuesday that he had “invoked the invasion clauses of the U.S. and Texas constitutions to fully authorize Texas to take unprecedented measures to defend our state against an invasion” of migrants.
Abbott said he would deploy the National Guard “to safeguard our border and to repel and turn back immigrants trying to cross the border illegally.”
Among a range of other measures, the government said he would build a border wall in multiple counties on the border; deploy gun boats to secure the border; and enter into a compact with other states to secure the border.
“… The measures announced by the government can be understood as measures of a political nature,” the SRE responded in a statement on Tuesday.I invoked the Invasion Clauses of the U.S. & Texas Constitutions to fully authorize Texas to take unprecedented measures to defend our state against an invasion.
I’m using that constitutional authority, & other authorization & Executive Orders to keep our state & country safe: pic.twitter.com/2Jt5HEMgp5
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) November 15, 2022
In a statement on Wednesday, the Office of the Texas Governor said that Abbott had sent a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden “highlighting the record-breaking level of illegal immigration at America’s southern border caused by the president’s sustained dereliction of duty enforcing the nation’s immigration laws.”
In his letter to Biden, Abbott wrote: “You must reinstate the policies that you eliminated, or craft and implement new policies, in order to fulfill your constitutional duty to enforce federal immigration laws and protect the states against invasion. … Two years of inaction on your part now leave Texas with no choice but to escalate our efforts to secure our state.”
Mexico made it clear that it doesn’t agree with the anti-immigration measures announced by Abbott on Tuesday, and appeared to question his authority to implement them.
“The government of Mexico rejects the measures announced today by Texas Governor Greg Abbott,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) said in a statement Tuesday.
“… In the United States, the application of migration laws, border control and the negotiation of international agreements are exclusive powers of the federal government, so bilateral dialogue between our countries on those matters will only be carried out at that level. In any case, the measures announced by the government can be understood as measures of a political nature,” the SRE said.
“The government of Mexico reiterates its commitment to protect Mexicans abroad, so the network of consulates in the state of Texas will be alert to any violation of their rights by any authority. Mexico will also continue working permanently to achieve more orderly, safer and more humane migration,” the ministry said.
A record high of almost 2.4 million migrants were intercepted after crossing into the United States between official ports of entry in U.S. fiscal year 2022, which ended Sep. 30. In the same period, a record high of 853 migrants perished in the Rio Grande or on U.S. soil after entering that country illegally, according to internal U.S. government data obtained by CBS News.
Mexico News Daily
