Governor Abbott Issues Statement On Texas’ Constitutional Right To Self-Defense
January 24, 2024 | Austin, Texas | Press Release
Governor Greg Abbott today issued a statement on Texas’ constitutional right to defend and protect itself as President Joe Biden continues to attack Texas and refuse to perform his duties to secure the border.
“The Executive Branch of the United States has a constitutional duty to enforce federal laws protecting States, including immigration laws on the books right now,” reads the statement. “President Biden has instructed his agencies to ignore federal statutes that mandate the detention of illegal immigrants. The failure of the Biden Administration to fulfill the duties imposed by Article IV, § 4 has triggered Article I, § 10, Clause 3, which reserves to this State the right of self-defense. For these reasons, I have already declared an invasion under Article I, § 10, Clause 3 to invoke Texas’s constitutional authority to defend and protect itself. That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary.”
For reference Article I, § 10, Clause 3 of the federal US constitution says:
No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.
So it looks the TX gov is trying to supercede federal policy on the border by claiming an invasion, empowering the state to do whatever it wants