AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The situation at the Texas border took center stage in a Congressional hearing Tuesday, amid months of escalating tensions on the ground and in the courts.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state agents to block Border Patrol agents from Shelby Park, along the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, despite a U.S. Supreme Court order last month allowing federal agents to remove razor wire installed along the river.
It’s part of an ongoing lawsuit from President Joe Biden’s administration, which argues Texas is overstepping its authority by installing razor wire that has injured some migrants. Abbott has argued that the state has both the authority and the responsibility to defend its borders from what he calls an invasion.
Texas First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster defended the state’s action before the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government.
“The federal government continues to fail us,” Webster said. “The governor has a duty and obligation to protect the citizens of Texas. And when he sees harms coming upon Texas, he has an obligation to act.”