Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signs order to return illegal immigrants back to the border

Republican Governor of Texas Greg Abbott signed an executive order this week that calls on the state National Guard and Department of Public Safety to return immigrants who cross the southern border illegally back to “the border at a port of entry.”

In what he calls an “unprecedented” action, Abbott ordered Texas authorities to return any immigrant who crosses the border illegally or otherwise breaks US law to a port of entry for deportation. Abbott stated the order was necessary because “President Biden refuses to do his job” to “enforce the immigration laws enacted by Congress.” 

The order “authorize(s) and empower(s) the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety to respond to this illegal immigration by apprehending immigrants who cross the border between ports of entry or commit other violations of federal law, and to return those illegal immigrants to the border at a port of entry.”

However, because only the federal government can enforce and enact immigration law, Abbott’s order includes a justification using Article IV, § 4 of the US Constitution. The order reads, “[T]he United States . . . shall protect each [State in this Union] against Invasion,’ and thus has forced the State of Texas to build a border wall, deploy state military forces, and enter into agreements as described in Article I, § 10 of the U.S. Constitution to secure the State of Texas and repel the illegal immigration that funds the cartels.”

The measure tests the legal boundaries for what a state can do to enforce immigration policy. The order leaves actual deportation to federal authorities at ports of entry rather than attempt to deport them at a state level.