On Sunday, February 4, 13 red state governors traveled to Texas and joined Gov. Greg Abbott at Shelby Park, the scene of Abbott’s showdown with the feds, for a press conference on the border security situation. According to Gov. Abbott, those governors joined him in firmly standing behind the right of states to protect the border when the federal government will not, and called on Buiden to secure the border.
The more than a dozen GOP governors who joined Abbott were Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, Governor Jeff Landry of Louisiana, Governor Mike Parson of Missouri, Governor Greg Gianforte of Montana, Governor Jim Pillen of Nebraska, Governor Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, Governor Tate Reeves of Mississippi, Governor Brad Little of Idaho, Governor Eric Holcomb of Indiana, Governor Kim Reynolds of Iowa, Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee, and Governor Spencer Cox of Utah.
Abbott, posting on X about the meeting, wrote, “America’s Governors have banded together to make one thing clear: Texas has the right to protect & defend our border. We will NOT tolerate this invasion the Biden Admin’s open border policies enabled. President Biden — it is your turn now to enforce the law & secure the border.”
Further, in a statement released by his office after the meeting and press conference, Gov. Abbott accused President Biden of not fulfilling his duties to the states, namely the duty to defend the country’s borders. He called out the Biden Administration over what it has done to attack the states defending the border, blasted it for leaving the border open, and vowed to continue standing up to the Administration.
He said, “President Biden has abandoned his constitutional duty to protect Americans by refusing to secure our southern border. During his presidency, Joe Biden has smashed records for illegal immigration and allowed total chaos to be unleashed along our southern border. Instead of upholding immigration laws already on the books, President Biden sent his lawyers into federal courts to sue the State of Texas for doing the job he should have been doing all along.”
Continuing, he noted that half of the nation’s governors have stood with him on the border question, saying, “Half of America’s Governors, including those here with me today, have banded together to make one thing clear: Americans stand with Texas and our right to protect and defend our state from the crisis at our southern border.”
He then added, “They have traveled to the very epicenter of the border crisis to witness first-hand President Biden’s lawless policies and the devastating impacts it’s having on our communities, Texas, and the entire country. Until the Biden Administration decides to do its job and secure the border, Texas—with the support of 25 of America’s Governors—will continue to step up and protect our nation from the catastrophe caused by President Biden.”
During the press conference, Gov. Abbott also added that the states would not need to continue their independent actions to defend the border nor persist in doing so if Biden stepped up and did his job. “We can relinquish control of it tomorrow if Joe Biden were to step up and do exactly what we’re doing here and stop people from crossing the border illegally,” Abbott said.
Watch the full press conference here:
Featured image credit: Gov. Abbott on X
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