The president of the Texas Nationalist Movement (TNM), Daniel Miller, recently urged Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to expand the Lone Star State’s resources and militarize the Texas State Guard if President Joe Biden listens to House Democrats and requests a federalization of the Texas National Guard.
Reps. Greg Casar (D-TX) and Joaquin Castro (D-TX) recently called on the president to hold the Texas National Guard accountable if Abbott continues his anti-illegal immigration measures over the crisis at the southern border.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that Border Patrol agents could remove razor wire installed on the southern border by Texas officials, prompting Abbott to release a letter claiming that the surge of illegal immigration into Texas is an “invasion,” adding that he partook in the Lone Star State’s “constitutional authority to defend and protect itself.”
On X, formerly known as Twitter, Miller, whose organization calls on Texas to secede from the U.S., called on Abbott to expand the Texas State Guard and place them along the southern border if the Biden administration federalizes the Texas National Guard.
“If Biden federalizes the Texas National Guard, Greg Abbott should immediately throw enlistment in the Texas State Guard WIDE OPEN, fully militarize them, and deploy them as a Border Protection Force along the entire border,” Miller wrote.
If Biden federalizes the Texas National Guard, @GregAbbott_TX should immediately throw enlistment in the Texas State Guard WIDE OPEN, fully militarize them, and deploy them as a Border Protection Force along the entire border.
— Daniel Miller (@TheTexianDM) January 24, 2024
Unlike the Texas Army National Guard and Texas Air National Guard, there is no mechanism in place to federalize the Texas State Guard, according to Newsweek.
The Texas National Guard has been used frequently throughout Texas’s Operation Lone Star, launched in 2021 by the Texas governor to enhance border security.
“When Abbott first began using the Texas National Guard for Operation Lone Star, there was always a risk that the federal government would call the Guard into federal service and order them to stand down,” Miller told Newsweek.
“This is precisely why it’s been our position since 2021 that the Texas State Guard should be the primary vehicle used by the Texas Military Department for border protection. By law, the Texas State Guard cannot be federalized and remain solely under the authority of the Governor of the State of Texas,” he added.
