A record number of illegal migrants have crossed the Mexican border into Texas. Photo: John Moore/Getty Images North America
Texas says it is defending itself against an “intrusion” on its border in an increasingly bitter dispute with the Biden administration over America's escalating migrant crisis.
Gov. Texas Greg Abbott accused Joe Biden of being a “lawless.” president and invoked the state's right to “self-defense” along the border with Mexico.
He argued that the US government was violating its constitutional duty to “enforce” immigration laws amid record numbers of border crossings in the American Southwest. .
The governor has led efforts in Republican-led border states to test the limits of the Biden administration's immigration powers.
Amid the most extreme measures, Mr Abbott has announced an “invasion” of Texas borders. , referring to a state's “constitutional right to defend itself”—essentially the right to wage war in the event of an invasion.
Legal experts called it a “brewing constitutional crisis,” but half of America's governors sided with Abbott in the showdown with the federal government.