This weekend, Governor Bill Lee is headed to Texas as the state’s governor, Greg Abbott, defies a Supreme Court order authorizing the removal of razor wire at the border.
Lee, who is head of the Republican Governors Association (RGA), will join 14 other Republican governors in Eagle Pass on Sunday.
Late last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Texas to allow federal border agents to access to the state’s border with Mexico. The order allows Border Patrol agents to cut through razor wire installed along that border, vacating a previous injunction from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that prevented them from doing just that, as reported by the Texas Tribune. It also falls in line with past Supreme Court rulings, reaffirming that, according to the Constitution, border control and immigration law falls under the authority of the federal government.
In response, Abbott announced he would order the Texas National Guard to install more razor wire, with the goal of deterring asylum-seekers from crossing the border illegally.
In the last three years, the Volunteer State has sent hundreds of TN National Guard troops to our nation’s southern border, & we will continue to offer Texas our strong support.
States are playing a powerful role in national security while the federal government fails to act. https://t.co/xpif6rW7RN
— Gov. Bill Lee (@GovBillLee) January 25, 2024
This intensifying standoff has placed the Supreme Court and Border Patrol on one side, and Abbott and National Guard troops on the other.
“In the last three years, the Volunteer State has sent hundreds of Tennessee National Guard troops to our nation’s southern border, and we will continue to offer Texas our strong support,” Lee said in a written statement.
There are currently more than 125 soldiers from the Tennessee National Guard’s 1175th Transportation Company at the southwestern border as part of a year-long deployment authorized by Lee in Oct. 2023 to “prevent illegal entry, and deter illicit activity or other threats.” And in May 2023, Gov. Lee authorized the deployment of 100 Tennessee National Guard troops to secure the southern border.
The governor’s office has not yet confirmed if there are plans to send additional troops to the border to support Abbott.
Clarification: This story was changed to reflect the language of the Supreme Court order.
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