Texas border is at the boiling point as the conflict between the federal government and the Texas state government is reaching a deadlock point. Mr. Greg Abbot, Texas Governor seems determined to stop the influx of migrants by installing a razor wire and is also funding the building of a wall to stop the trespassers.
On Monday, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 in favor of the federal government. The Supreme Court allowed the federal government to remove the controversial wire along the stretches of the Texas state border. The bone of contention is immigration matters as they fall under the federal government according to the 2012 ruling of the Supreme Court in the “Arizona vs United States” case. Despite this Greg Abbott is adamant about installing even more wire to stop the influx of migrants across the borders. Abbott repeatedly invoked the “invasion clause” to his benefit by putting migrants under the public foreign enemies.
Abbott says there is nothing that can prevent him from ordering the Texas National Guard to lay the razor wires. However, the National Guard falls under the US Military, which has the US President as the commander-in-chief. The other point of view is that the National guard takes orders from State governors under normal times but in special circumstances, it comes under the purview of the President. The main point to hit here is whether the ongoing situation falls under normal or special circumstances.
There is another area “Shelby Park”, a city-owned public park in the border town of “Eagle Pass”. The National Guard deployed by Governor Abbott took control of Shelby park in early January and they stopped the Border Patrol agents from working in the area. Border Patrol agents work under the discretion of the Department of Homeland Security. In Shelby Park, Texas guards are arresting adult migrants and also they are putting barriers to stall the entrance of migrants. They are instructing them to return to Mexico across the Rio Grande.
They rejected the Biden government’s argument that their action is violating the constitutional provisions. Department of Homeland Security said it will transfer the matter to the Department of Justice for potential legal action that can be taken against the Texas Government, which will further create tensions.
Abbott blamed President Joe Biden for creating the problem by reversing former President Trump’s decision, as Governor Abbott is a Republican hardliner himself. The fence is part of Governor Greg Abbott’s “Operation Lone Star”, a campaign to secure American borders to stop the surge of asylum cases. He criticized President Biden’s government for allowing the Title 42 public health policy to end. Scheduled to end on May 11, Title 42 allows federal border agents to rapidly expel illegal immigrants to Mexico.
In the middle of the standoff between Texas and Washington, the Biden Administration has released figures for illegal crossings for December. Customs and Border Protection authorities indicated that 302,034 encounters (arrests) were recorded on the border with Mexico. It is the highest figure in a single month on record.