Conflict between Joe Biden and Greg Abbott of Texas poses a threat to the constitution
Team Biden’s border chaos is becoming a dangerous constitutional crisis, pitting Texas against President Biden.
Make no mistake: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott holds all the moral high cards here — and some legal ones, too.
With Biden refusing to enforce immigration law and millions flooding in illegally, Texas has been utterly swamped.
In response, Abbott has installed razor wire on the border and taken control of riverfront Shelby Park to deter migrants — something Biden should be doing.
Last Monday, the Supreme Court ruled the feds can cut that wire while their lawsuit against Texas and the wire plays out. Team Biden also seeks access to the park.
What a horrific political spectacle: Texas is looking to secure the border (which Biden now finally admits is not secure), yet the feds are aiming to block him.
It’s madness (and not just because taxpayers get stuck paying for both installation and removal of the wire).
Admirably, Abbott is standing his ground, even vowing to install more wire.
Will the two sides play razor-wire whack-a-mole? Will it come to blows?
Former President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has urged states to surge National Guard troops to help Texas, and 25 Republican governors back Abbott.
“The federal government has broken the compact between the United States and the States,” the Texan said Wednesday.
The executive branch has a “constitutional duty to enforce” federal laws that protect states, he argues, but instead it’s violating those laws.
And since the Constitution gives states the right to defend themselves, Abbott has declared an “invasion” and invoked “Texas’ constitutional authority” to exercise that right, which “supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary.”
As The Post’s Douglas Murray notes, there’s ample precedent for local governments ignoring federal rules — i.e., when cities and states declared themselves sanctuary cities to protect illegal migrants and refused to cooperate with the feds.
Now Abbott claims the Constitution grants him authority to ignore the feds to keep border-jumpers out.
Abbott’s legal argument is strong, but his moral argument — about protecting the state (and the country) — is unassailable.
Only perverse open-border radicals (and pols who do their bidding) still deny the border is a nightmare, with a new-record-high 300,000-plus migrants crossing in December, and needs to be secured.
Of course, none of all this Sturm und Drang would be necessary if Team Biden just followed the law; the House just unveiled articles of impeachment against Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas over the issue.
Since Abbott’s not backing down, it’s becoming a question of whether a president who won’t act against Iran even as its proxies are killing American soldiers will instead crack down on a governor who’s simply trying to enforce the laws that the prez won’t.
