West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey on Monday was among the 26 officials to send a letter to US President Joe Biden saying that his administration’s approach to the crisis on the US border with Mexico is wrong and the state of Texas has a constitutional right to defend itself from an invasion of illegal immigrants.
"You have run to [the Supreme] court to impede a fellow sovereign's efforts to protect its own citizens. And administration surrogates have even proclaimed that Texas is trying to start a second Civil War. Your view is wrong. Putting aside the outrageous rhetoric, States have an unqualified constitutional right to defend themselves from 'invasion' under Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution," the letter said.
Last Monday, the US Supreme Court ruled that federal agents can cut razor wire fencing Texas installed on swaths of the border, but it does not require the state to remove it. The Texas National Guard placed razor wire fencing along the state's border with Mexico to deter the record level of migrants coming into the United States illegally and overwhelming local resources and communities struggling to cope with the crisis.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Friday that he was prepared for a conflict with the federal authorities over the border protection dispute.
The Biden administration also recently asked the Supreme Court to prevent the Texas National Guard from blocking federal Border Patrol agents from accessing a stretch of land along the US southern border town of Eagle Pass, Texas. The border town has been a hot spot for illegal migration since President Joe Biden came into office in 2021.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton vowed to continue the state's efforts "to protect the border against every effort by the Biden administration to undermine the state's constitutional right of self-defense."
US Customs and Border Protection recently revealed that there were more than 302,000 migrant encounters on the US southern border in December, marking the highest single-month figure ever recorded. The Biden administration has experienced three consecutive years of record numbers of illegal immigrants on the US southern border.