Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling out Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for refusing to send illegal aliens back to Mexico, in the wake of heightened illegal crossings on Texas’ southern border.
“They let them come across and then you give them to the feds, and the feds just release them anyways,” DeSantis said, according to a report from Florida Politics. “What they need to do, Texas, is Texas should just send them back across the border.”
“Who cares what the feds are saying? They’re not doing their job,” DeSantis added. “Or not let them come across the border to begin with, because they go right across the river. They just walk right across. No one’s stopping [them]. Some pushback, I think, would be good. And I would send people to help with that.”
Abbott instituted Operation Lone Star last year as a means of combating the out-of-control illegal border crossings. However, OLS has been widely criticized as “political theater” mired with political, legal, and logistical problems.
Abbott’s recent idea for border security included busing migrants (on their own volition) to Washington, D.C., and halting all commercial traffic at the border for additional inspections. Critics say these plans have all failed to address the real problem: illegal border-crossers who are subsequently released into the U.S. rather than deported.
The Center for Renewing America has proposed that each state enact Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution under the declaration that the border crisis is indeed an invasion and the federal government has failed to address it. This clause would allow for states to repel an invasion themselves by utilizing their state guards; it would also allow for governors to enter into an interstate compact to secure the border.
Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has indicated she would do exactly that if elected.
So far, however, Abbott has fallen short of declaring the massive surge of illegal aliens an invasion. Attorney General Ken Paxton told Texas Scorecard in a recent interview that he would be willing to defend such actions if the governor or Legislature took action.
“It cannot be the law that the Texas governor, the Arizona governor, or any governor can sit by while crimes are being committed, while their states are being pillaged,” said Paxton.
Both DeSantis and Abbott are considered potential presidential candidates in 2024. A recent poll among Texas Republicans showed DeSantis leading the field of potential Republican presidential candidates if President Donald Trump decides not to run again. Fifty-six percent of those polled said they would support DeSantis.
Just 10 percent said they would support Abbott.
As of publishing, Abbott’s office did not respond to request for comment.
