Jose Gonzalez-Campelo/The Cougar
The conditions at the Texas border are chaotic.
During the legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott passed sweeping immigration bills and is currently in a standoff with the federal government regarding border policy.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an injunction allowing the U.S. Border Patrol to cut the razor wire Texas installed along the border of Mexico. The 5-4 decision came without an opinion from the Court. The Supreme Court said that Texas should allow border patrol officers to conduct operations freely at the state’s southern border.
“There was no reason, logic or anything like that, no explanation,” said associate political science professor Jeronimo Cortina.
The ruling disregarded a lower court’s decision that prevented federal border patrol agents from cutting the concertina wire the state had installed last summer to apprehend people who had already crossed the river.
“Texas is arguing that given the inaction of the federal government, then Texas has the responsibility and the constitutional responsibility to protect itself. And the federal government is saying, ‘no, you can’t do that,’ because this is a federal prerogative that fully can be executed by the federal government,” Cortina said.
There has not been a federal immigration policy since the 1990s. In a response to no action by the federal government, Texas has passed multiple immigration reform bills. This raises the legal question of who has the authority over immigration policy in the U.S., Cortina said.
In response to the Supreme Court ruling, Abbott defended Texas’ “constitutional right to defend and protect itself.” He added without providing evidence that President Joe Biden has not been enacting current immigration laws and refuses to “perform his duties to secure the border.”
“Biden has violated his oath to faithfully execute immigration laws enacted by Congress,” Abbott said in a statement. “Instead of prosecuting immigrants for the federal crime of illegal entry, Biden has sent his lawyers into federal courts to sue Texas for taking action to secure the border.”
The state Attorney General Ken Paxton refused the federal government’s request to access the border. He demanded proof that the federal government has authority to turn the Texas park into a port of entry.
Approximately 25 Republican governors are also backing Abbott’s stance and said that Texas has the constitutional right to protect themselves.
“We haven’t had any changes on immigration policy, right,” Cortina said. “So, hopefully, it’s gonna move one way or the other because one thing that Republicans and Democrats agree on is that the immigration policy in this country is broken. But no one is fixing it.”
“We stand in solidarity with our fellow Governor, Greg Abbott, and the State of Texas in utilizing every tool and strategy, including razor wire fences, to secure the border. We do it in part because the Biden administration is refusing to enforce immigration laws already on the books and is illegally allowing mass parole across America of migrants who entered our country illegally,” the governors said in a joint statement.
Looking ahead
Last Friday, Biden pressed legislatures to support an emerging bipartisan Senate deal on immigration reform and said that he would shut down the southern border if given the authority at a rally on Saturday, according to CNN.
“We haven’t had any changes on immigration policy, right,” Cortina said. “So, hopefully, it’s gonna move one way or the other because one thing that Republicans and Democrats agree on is that the immigration policy in this country is broken. But no one is fixing it.”
A bipartisan agreement can be reached on a border deal in the upcoming days, according to Sen. Chris Murphy, a key negotiator on the possible bill.
“We are sort of finalizing the last pieces of text right now. This bill could be ready to be on the floor of the United States Senate next week. But it won’t be if Republicans decide that they want to keep this issue unsettled for political purposes,” the Connecticut Democrat told CNN.
