The National Defense Act was signed into law in 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson. The law was established primarily as a result of the sinking of the ship Lusitania by a German submarine where 125 Americans perished. World War I was well underway and Congressional leaders were very concerned about the ability to protect our country and fear of being dragged into the war. The National Defense Act authorized the President to federalize National Guard troops in the event of an invasion.
Ironically, the United States had been invaded 4 months prior to this by the notorious Pancho Vila. A civil war was being fought between a weak & corrupt Mexican government and rebels, led by Pancho Vila. With several hundred men, Vila attacked a small town across the border in the state of New Mexico. The consensus as to the reasoning for the invasion was to draw the U.S. government into the Mexican war and help to defeat the Mexican leaders.
Subsequently, President Wilson federalized nearly 10,000 national guardsmen and not only sent them to protect our border, but, believe it or not, to invade the country of Mexico and to capture Pancho Vila.
The end result was that Pancho Vila was never captured, eventually made peace with the new Mexican government who gave him a 2500 acre hacienda & a pension.
In 2007 Congress enacted the National Defense Authorization Act which allows the President to federalize National Guard troops for protection domestically without state governors’ consent.
So now we have a situation in Texas where the Governor has taken the protection of his state’s border away from the administration’s Dept. of Homeland Security due to incompetence and failure to protect the border. States Rights are about to be challenged in a very concerning way. President Biden has the authority to federalize the Texan National Guard troops which would usurp the Governor’s ability to protect his state. A standoff is occurring now as Texas is building up a border wall of razor wire and buoys to protect their border and President Biden is suing the state of Texas to remove them.
It is not yet clear as to whether or not Biden will federalize the National Guardsmen from Texas. Nearly 25 other U.S. state Governor’s have voiced support for Texas and many have sent their own National Guardsmen to Texas in order to assist.
This being an election year, it might be a major mistakes for Biden to do so. The Texas Governor has stated he will use his state law enforcement personnel to replace the Guardsmen if necessary. Biden using such a significant power, in light of the political polarization that is occurring would be detrimental to achieving a cooperative solution to the border invasion.
It’s time to begin planning a significant action against the Mexican cartels and the corrupt Mexican government, like President Wilson did against Pancho Vila, and demonstrate the power and resolve we have for our country’s sovereignty.