The Texas-Mexican border has become a battleground between state and federal authorities as they grapple with conflicting approaches towards immigration policy. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has taken a firm stance declaring “an invasion under Article I, § 10, Clause 3 to invoke Texas’s constitutional authority to defend and protect itself.” With the use of the Texas National Guard and other apparatus, Governor Abbot has ordered the use of razor wire to be installed in its version of fortifications to further secure the border as Texas sees fit. Governor Abbott has famously also put migrants on buses and shipped them to other cities and states as he sees fit.

However, the Biden Administration has yet to acknowledge an invasion at the Texas border which would render Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s actions illicit. The Department of Homeland Security argues that immigration policies fall within federal jurisdiction and the state of Texas has no place in acting for itself. The Supreme Court has ruled in a 5-4 decision “to allow U.S. Border Patrol agents to remove the razor wire on the border wall placed by Texas law enforcement.”

Despite the ruling, Governor Abbott has instructed the Texas National Guard to continue installing razor wire along the Texas border. Furthermore, the Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety has defended razor wire installations from being dismantled by the Federal Border Patrol. Tensions are on the rise as a rogue governor tests the limits of a state’s capacity to self govern and a negligent president’s unwillingness to tackle immigration policy.