26 GOP attorneys general back Texas, tell Biden to "secure the border"
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The Texas National Guard holds migrants crossing the Rio Grande River on Jan. 2. Photo: David Peinado/Anadolu via Getty Images
26 Republican attorneys general demanded in a letter Monday that the Biden administration "enforce the laws that secure the southern border."
The big picture: The move is a show of support for GOP lawmakers in Texas, who are resisting a U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed for the removal of razor wire at the southern border.
- The attorneys general say in the letter that President Biden has failed in his constitutional duty to defend states from a border "invasion" as a record number of migrants arrive at the border.
Driving the news: The letter addressed to Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas argues that the federal government "should be working to stop this crisis, but it is not."
- The attorneys general said they support Texas' efforts at the border but that no state can handle such an influx of people on its own.
- "Your Administration is helping individuals complete their illegal entry into the United States," the letter states, concluding that the federal government must step in to "enforce the law and protect the border."
What they're saying: "The invasion on our southern border has made every state a border state," Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said in a statement.
- "States have been left to fend for themselves," he continued. "If the Biden Administration won't do its job to secure our border and keep Americans safe, it should step aside to let the States do the job for them."
Meanwhile, former President Trump and House Republicans are plotting to kill the Senate's expected border deal.
- As Illegal immigration has rocketed to the top of voters' concerns, Biden has become increasingly desperate for a solution, Axios' Stef W. Kight writes. But Trump and conservative Republicans are using it as a political opportunity to squeeze Biden and Democrats on the issue.
Details: Iowa and Utah co-led the letter, which was cosigned by attorneys general in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming, and in the Arizona State Legislature.
Go deeper: Republicans' border split screen
