Gov. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) encouraged the state of Texas to continue its standoff with the federal government during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
Noem clashed with host Dana Bash while declaring her support for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and his decision to defy a Supreme Court ruling allowing U.S. Border Patrol to remove razor wire along the banks of the Rio Grande.
“Texas should stand their ground,” Noem told Bash. “They should enforce their state law and go back to the constitutional rights that they’ve been granted to protect their state sovereignty.”
Texas authorities have been blocking U.S. Border Patrol from land near the town of Eagle Pass, where three migrants drowned while trying to cross a concertina-wire covered section of the Rio Grande earlier this month.
On Wednesday, Abbott denounced the Supreme Court’s ruling and announced he would continue to order the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard to refuse federal agents access to the border.