RALEIGH — Over the past week, Republicans in both chambers of the General Assembly have come out backing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s defense of Texas against the Biden administration in the ongoing illegal migrant crisis at the U.S. southern border.
On Jan. 31, House Republicans held a press conference on the matter, including a letter to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper urging him to take action to protect the state.
“The Biden administration has utterly failed to secure our border. Consequently, every state in the country is now a border state, including North Carolina,” House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain) said in a press release. “It is past time for Gov. Cooper to take swift action on behalf of all North Carolinians.”
All 72 House Republicans signed the letter.
“Due to this crisis, North Carolina faces increased security threats from foreign actors, tragic fentanyl deaths, and disturbing human trafficking by cartels and gangs. These threats divert precious resources to the detriment of our citizens,” the House Republicans letter reads. “Even as you declared 2024 the ‘Year of the public school,’ the New Hanover County schools superintendent proposed closing a special needs public school and replacing it with a “newcomers school” for non-citizens. These issues are only growing, and it is your duty as governor to do everything you can do to protect this state.”
The letter asks Cooper to take three actions:
- Deploy additional North Carolina National Guard troops to assist Gov. Abbott, not under ineffectual federal authority, but in coordination with Texas leadership and request any needed additional resources for this deployment in your upcoming state budget submission.
- Commit to signing legislation that mandates cooperation with ICE by local police departments to remove migrants who are committing crimes. Many are unaccompanied military-aged men with military or cartel experience.
- Halt any discretionary cooperation with the federal government to place and house illegal migrants in the state.
Last week, on Jan. 26, Moore posted to X his support for Texas, writing “I am proud to #standwithtexas, and the NC House will do all it can to assist Governor Abbott and the state of Texas. #ncpol #bordercrisis”
That same day, Senate Republicans announced that they had sent a letter to President Biden “regarding his obstruction of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s ability to guard the southern border.”
Following Moore’s X post and the Senate Republicans announcing their letter, Cooper was quoted on the matter by Raleigh television station CBS 17.
“A bipartisan Senate is close to the strongest border security law in a generation but Donald Trump is telling Republicans to stop because a tough border law hurts his campaign,” Cooper told CBS 17. “If Republican governors really wanted strong border security now they would release a joint statement supporting this legislation instead of one that bows to Trump and urges violating the constitution and the rule of law.”
Other than Cooper’s comment to CBS 17, there has been no official position statement made by the governor’s office. Similarly, Attorney General Josh Stein has also not released any official remarks, nor has his gubernatorial campaign.
Moore responded on X by calling Cooper’s statement “a series of out-of-touch talking points.”
“Gov. Cooper’s statement is nothing more than a series of out-of-touch talking points that fail to recognize the national security crisis we are facing thanks to Biden’s open borders,” Moore wrote. “Unacceptable. The North Carolina House supermajority stands with Texas.”
The activity by the General Assembly follows a statement issued by the Republican Governors Association on Jan. 26. The statement was signed by 25 governors and backs both Abbott’s actions as they relate to Texas’s Constitutional Right to defend itself.
