Reynolds: Texas has ‘right to self-defense’ at the border

DES MOINES — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds joined two dozen other Republican governors on Thursday to give their support to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the state's "right to self-defense" amid a clash between Abbott and President Joe Biden's administration over razor wire installed at the southern border.

In the statement on Thursday, the governors skewered Biden for policies that they say have led to "unprecedented illegal immigration pouring across the Southern border."

The U.S. Supreme Court this week cleared the way for federal agents to cut the razor wire fencing set up by Abbott and Texas officials at the border.

Abbott has since defended his right to continue using razor wire at the border and declared the influx of illegal border crossings an "invasion."

“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," Reynolds and the other governors said in the 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.”

Federal law generally reserves border enforcement to the federal government, but Abbott and other Republican governors have said he has authority under a section of the Constitution that allows states to use military action if "actually invaded."

"Because the Biden Administration has abdicated its constitutional compact duties to the states, Texas has every legal justification to protect the sovereignty of our states and our nation," Reynolds and other Republican governors said.

Abbott and other Republican governors have been challenging Biden on border enforcement for years, filing multiple lawsuits against the Biden administration and clashing over his border policies.

In a statement on Wednesday, Abbott said Biden had failed to enforce the border laws and allowed record numbers of illegal border crossings.

"President Biden has refused to to enforce those laws and has even violated them," Abbott said. "The result is that he has smashed records for illegal immigration."

In an interview on CNN Thursday, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said Abbott was politicizing the situation at the border. She said the White House has been working on bipartisan legislation to improve border security.

"It's not making people's lives safer. It's actually making it harder for law enforcement at the border to do their job," she said. "And so we have been very clear. We want to make sure we get something done at the border."

Reynolds has deployed Iowa National Guard troops to the Texas border multiple times to aid in border enforcement. Most recently, more than 100 Iowa National Guard members were deployed last August as part of Operation Lone Star, a Texas mission to deter illegal border crossings.

As part of last summer’s deployment, Reynolds also sent Iowa State Patrol officers. In a separate, 30-day stint they supported Texas state troopers with traffic enforcement, law enforcement and investigations.