The calls for Texas to defend itself and defy the federal government have set fire to a long-simmering fight over states’ rights, emboldening right-wing figures.
The calls for Texas to defend itself and defy the federal government have set fire to a long-simmering fight over states’ rights, emboldening right-wing figures.
Daniel Miller felt encouraged last week, as fears of a new civil war trended online and a coalition of powerful Republicans coalesced behind Gov. Greg Abbott’s standoff with the Biden administration.
As the longtime leader of Texas’ unlikely secessionist movement, Miller has for decades argued that the state is in a stranglehold by the federal government that, eventually, would prompt enough popular support for a vote to leave the union. The past week only reinforced that belief.
"It validates and confirms the position we've had all along, which is that if Texas ever wants to truly secure its border … the only way we’re going to do it is as an independent and self-governing nation,” Miller said in an interview.
At issue is the 47-acre Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, where Texas has for months been laying concertina wire along the Rio Grande to prevent migrants from crossing. In a 5-4 decision early last week, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration, allowing U.S. Border Patrol agents to cut the wire to apprehend people who had crossed the river.
The narrowly written decision — which didn’t speak to whether the state had to stop laying new concertina wire — has emboldened Abbott, who vowed to continue his fight against the high court and federal government, citing Texas’ right to defend itself from what he claims is an “invasion” of migrants.
By week’s end — and as the Texas National Guard and state troopers continued to roll out wire and stifle federal agents’ access to much of the park — Abbott’s defiant calls were backed by 25 Republican governors, former President Donald Trump, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and nearly all of Texas’ congressional delegation.
Just let them go- Texas that is. They can build a wall around the entire state, and then stop being such a massive drain on federal funds every time it snows a bit or gets a little sweaty. They can take Florida with them.
Abbott graduated from Duncanville High School,[5] where he was on the track team,[6] in the National Honor Society and was voted "Most Likely to Succeed".
from his wikipedia page. I did find this running a search though. Can we make fun of him??
All of this over the status quo (give or take). Just wait until the real climate change migrations state happening. That's when things really get to pop off.
Lol do it! 26/38 of their Representatives and both their Senators are Republicans.
Goodbye House majority, goodbye Senate filibuster, goodbye any chance of a Trump victory this year. Even just 1 year of them disappearing means Democrats could get a whole lot done before they start crawling back.
I'm a bit worried that the plan for the secessionists is to do something so spectacular (literally) as to try to cause there to be good reason to "pause to election".
Just so then, they can prove Biden to be a dictator, and actually have an argument. Pausing an election would be truly unsettling.
So if there is a crisis about Electoral College stating of states close to November, that's a powder-keg situation.
I'm honestly not claiming we need to avoid this kind of crisis. Just saying be careful what you wish for.
How do you get social security when you are no longer part of the Union? I'm guessing they're would be a large boarder crossing if Texas was up for grabs. Good luck👍
In Canada, Alberta has this same notion that they got a raw deal in federalism and that secession is the answer. They are the Texans of the north: conservative, religious, oil-rich, strong capitalist rhetoric (though there is plenty of corporate welfare, of course). But Alberta is a fully landlocked province of a few million people with not much else besides oil. And, get this: they want to secede because they supposedly can't get any new oil pipelines built to the ocean in Canada. Did I mention that they are landlocked? What a bunch of morons.
You say this as if the Republicans haven't been obstructing any kind of deal while constantly screaming about the problem, it's a wedge issue that gives them power over brown folks and something to complain about the Democrats to their base about.
We'd all love for the feds to do something about it, but those performative politics dickheads need to get out of the way for it to happen.
How about all those businesses who hire illegal immigrants have their owners/executives go to jail? See how many farms, construction companies, restaurants, etc. go under. I would guess that many of these owners are registered R as well.
The US doesn't run without immigrant labor. See the states who get up in arms about punishing immigrants ending up without labor to pick their crops and build their houses. Also, it's not incredibly clear why I should be upset about less than 1% of the population per year, many of whom are seasonal workers who are in that six million multiple times because they come, go, and come again.
So you're okay with fucking over American workers so long as you get cheap food? Still all about that underclass of field laborers, over 160 years later.
In 2023 there was 2.05 million encounters with border patrol. Many more were uncaught. In 2022, 2.2 million. In 2021, 1.66 million. Together, thats 5.92 million illegals who were let go. That plus the uncaught ones easily makes 6 million in 3 years