In a shocking – and telling – omission, President Barack Obama yesterday delivered a major address to the nation on border security and immigration reform, without one word of acknowledgment of this week’s cross-border gunfire incident in which the El Paso, Texas City Hall was hit by AK-47 rounds fired from Juarez, Mexico.

"This President, and his party, made absolutely clear that they will not defend the United States against either border crime or illegal immigration," says House Republican Conference Secretary John Carter (R-TX31). "President Obama also made clear they will attempt to demonize and block anyone else who tries, as he has demonstrated against lawfully-passed legislation that the people of Arizona deemed necessary due to Obama refusing to do his job to secure the border and enforce our immigration laws."

The City Hall of El Paso, Texas came under automatic weapons fire from Juarez, Mexico earlier this week, in an incident eerily reminiscent of sniper fire from Juarez into El Paso in 1919. In that incident, Pancho Villa’s snipers fired into El Paso after defeating Mexican federal forces in Juarez, but were immediately counterattacked by 3,600 American troops who charged into Juarez and beyond, routing Villa’s forces and permanently ending his threat to the United States. President Woodrow Wilson deployed a total of 100,000 U.S. Army and National Guard troops over that earlier period of border unrest.

"This President said not one word about a major American city this week taking hostile fire across our border," says Carter. "Worse yet, he took no action whatsoever to defend American citizens and territory from this foreign assault, even though he has 24,000 seasoned combat troops under his command at Fort Bliss minutes away from the scene. It is becoming increasingly apparent that our Governors will have to act to restore order, as the Commander-in-Chief will not."

Carter has called for either the President or the Governors of the Border States to immediately deploy an initial 25,000 troops to secure the border. The former Texas judge presented the proposal as an amendment to the Supplemental Appropriations bill, but House Democrats would not allow the measure to be debated or voted on.