Texas AG's Crusade Against Biden's Border Policy Hits Capitol Hill

In a robust move to reinforce state autonomy in matters of border security, Texas First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster took the floor at a Congressional hearing yesterday to outline his state's grievances against what is deemed an "unlawful immigration doctrine" of the Biden Administration. According to an announcement by the Texas Attorney General's office, this litigation is led by Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is not mincing words when it comes to protecting Texan soil and upholding what he sees as constitutional duties neglected by the federal government.

Webster, serving as Paxton's voice, took the podium in the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government. The hearing, dubbed “The Southern Border Crisis: The Constitution and the States,” probed states’ rights to take control of their borders in the absence of federal action. Paxton's mission is clear: he aims to reaffirm Texas’s right to defend itself against what his office calls a historic invasion and has been actively filing lawsuits from Del Rio to Washington, D.C. to back up this stance.

Paxton, a vehement critic of President Biden's policies, has twice rebuffed what he characterizes as threatening letters from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). "Rather than addressing Texas’s urgent requests for protection, President Biden has authorized DHS to send a threatening letter through its lawyers," Paxton said. "But Texas has lawyers, too, and I will continue to stand up for this State’s constitutional powers of self-defense." He went on to challenge DHS, saying, "Instead of running to the U.S. Department of Justice in hopes of winning an injunction, you should advise your clients at DHS to do their job and follow the law."

The subcommittee hearing represents another chapter in a saga of legal and political conflict surrounding immigration enforcement and border security, issues that have become even more polarized under the Biden Administration. Webster's testimony underlines a strategic shift away from relying on the federal government to secure the border, instead mobilizing state resources in a bid for autonomous protection.