North Carolina’s top officials have expressed their support for the 25 states backing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s border fight against the Biden administration.
Earlier this week, the US Supreme Court ruled that federal agents are allowed to remove the razor wire that Texas installed along the southern border to curb the all-time high illegal border crossings. The state versus federal government dilemma intensified as Abbott vowed to hold the line in a potential standoff with federal authorities.
Half of America’s governors banded together to support Texas in a formal letter on Thursday:
“We stand in solidarity with our fellow Governor, Greg Abbott, and the State of Texas in utilizing every tool and strategy, including razor wire fences, to secure the border,” the 25 governors said in a joint statement. “We do it in part because the Biden Administration is refusing to enforce immigration laws already on the books and is illegally allowing mass parole across America of migrants who entered our country illegally.”
While Gov. Roy Cooper (D) didn’t sign the statement, every state surrounding North Carolina did, including Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Other top North Carolina leaders in the state praised Texas while sounding the alarm on the nation’s border crisis.
NC Speaker of the House Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, who recently visited the southern border, declared his full support for Texas on Friday on X. He said that the “NC House will do all it can to assist Abbott and the State of Texas.”
Republicans in the North Carolina Senate sent a unified message to President Biden on Friday regarding his obstruction of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s ability to guard the southern border. In the letter, senators called on the administration to “stop thwarting Texas from effectively guarding the southern border.”
“Since taking office, your policies and derelict leadership have left border states helpless in securing the southern border. Your failures have resulted in a full-scale emergency, with states like Texas having no choice but to fend for themselves,” reads the letter, which was signed by 29 state senators. “North Carolina stands with Texas and it’s time your administration stops impeding Gov. Greg Abbott from protecting his state and our nation.”
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson applauded Abbott as well, vowing as governor to partner with law enforcement at all levels to tackle the fentanyl crisis, crack down on illegal immigration and make our country safer and more secure.
There have been over eight million illegal border crossings since Biden took office, with December recording the highest level of illegal crossings in U.S. history. Under current law, illegal immigrants are counted for congressional district apportionment and Electoral College votes, because the Census does not include a citizenship question.
During a Thursday press conference on Capitol Hill, US Sen. Ted Budd, R-NC, said the nation is at a “breaking point,” explaining that some elected officials want illegal immigration for political gain in redistricting.
“We are in the middle of the worst border crisis in US history,” Budd said. “This creates a terrible incentive for more illegal immigration at a time when we as a country are at a breaking point.”
Republican senators proposed legislation that would exclude non-citizens when allocating apportionment for congressional districts and electoral votes. NC Democrats proposed redistricting measures on Thursday to address partisan gerrymandering.