The feds end up with ALL kinds of problems if they try to federalize the TANG. First, he's very limited on what he can do without the governor's consent. He's limited to either declaring that there is widespread violations of federal law or declaring that the forces are there to enforce civil rights. Both are VERY tenuous. The violations of federal laws one is tough for them, because the most blatant violation is the illegal entry itself. The civil rights one is also difficult, because there is no right to illegal entry. In any event, as soon as they do, and if people actually report (remember, this is TEXAS NG) then Abbott and Paxton are likely to start a huge media campaign that the orders that TANG troops are receiving are illegal orders and must be disregarded, and *enough* troops will follow that to foul the whole thing. It only takes about 10% refusal to make the whole force combat ineffective. The last big hiccup is that Texas also has the Texas STATE Guard, and I know some of those guys. They are all straight up right-wing wingnuts -- because who else are you going to get to come and do essentially National Guard service *for virtually no pay* just because they don't want to be subject to being federalized? You get a bunch of assholes who are WAITING to get the legal coverage to zap a fed or 50. And that also includes the Air Support Groups,