{"id":19095,"date":"2024-01-30T08:37:11","date_gmt":"2024-01-30T13:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=19095"},"modified":"2024-01-31T19:29:18","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T00:29:18","slug":"debacles-at-home-and-abroad-propel-defend-the-guard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2024\/01\/30\/debacles-at-home-and-abroad-propel-defend-the-guard\/","title":{"rendered":"Debacles at Home and Abroad Propel \u2018Defend the Guard\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Debacles at Home and Abroad Propel \u2018Defend the Guard\u2019<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/h1>\n

by Jim Bovard<\/a><\/span> | Jan 30, 2024<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"maryland<\/span><\/div>\n
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The National Guard is back in the headlines thanks to a showdown at the Texas border and Joe Biden\u2019s latest foreign policy debacle.<\/span> The Biden administration has refused to enforce federal law to limit undocumented immigrants (many of whom \u201clost\u201d their documents just before arriving at the U.S. border) from crossing from Mexico into the United States. The Transportation Security Administration permits those new arrivals to board domestic flights merely by showing their Department of Homeland Security arrest warrants as identification. (American citizens are permitted no such luxury.)<\/p>\n

Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent National Guard troops to erect barbed wire at one of the best known entry points at the Texas-Mexico border. President Biden ordered Abbott to withdraw his state\u2019s officials and permit federal agents to slash the barbed wire to permit unrestricted entry at that point. The Supreme Court narrowly supported Biden\u2019s position on federal authority.<\/p>\n

Gov. Abbott refused to back down because Texas\u2019 constitutional right to defend and protect itself is \u201cthe supreme law of the land<\/span><\/a> and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary. The Texas National Guard, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and other Texas personnel are acting on that authority, as well as state law, to secure the Texas border,\u201d Abbott announced.<\/p>\n

Biden is threatening to federalize the National Guard\u2014i.e., take direct control over its troops. Taking a giant leap towards martial law would be damned unwise. The Biden administration is seeking to extort $60 billion in additional foreign aid for Ukraine and Israel from Congress\u00a0 <\/span>as the price for enforcing federal law and limiting undocumented immigration on the southern border. Governors of at least twenty-four states have announced they stand with Texas, and at least ten states have sent some of their National Guard troops in solidarity.<\/p>\n