According to reports from CNN, BBC, Fox News and other foreign media, an unprecedented conflict has recently erupted between the state of Texas and the federal government due to the immigration crisis. On the 25th local time, Texas Governor Abbott questioned the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in a public statement, arguing that the Supreme Court's ruling was vague and pointed out that the ruling did not explicitly instruct Texas to remove the barbed wire fence used to prevent illegal immigrants from entering the country.
[Texas ignores Supreme Court ruling on its border blade gillnet]
To prevent the barbed wire from being dismantled, Abbott launched a series of deployments codenamed Operation Lone Star. He mobilized the Texas National Guard to continue building and strengthening the barbed wire fence and began an armed standoff with the Border Patrol to prevent federal law enforcement officers from entering the border area.
Texas Governor Abbott's firm stance not only won widespread support within Texas, but also sparked a collective response from Republicans across the country. On the 25th local time, the Association of Republican Governors of the United States released a letter signed by 25 Republican governors on its website, openly supporting Texas Governor Abbott and Texas' "right to self-defense". According to USA Today, among the 27 Republican governors in the United States, only the governor of Vermont did not participate in the signing of the joint statement.
According to a report by Newsweek, Texas Lieutenant Governor Patrick issued a warning to the Biden administration in an interview with Fox News, asking it not to confront the Texas National Guard and asking the Biden administration to "give way." In addition, Oklahoma Governor Stitt and Florida Governor DeSantis said on the 26th that they were willing to send the National Guard to Texas to "assist in law enforcement."
As the Republican presidential candidate, Trump praised Abbott's position and actions at a campaign rally in Nevada on the 27th local time, and made a series of sharp remarks. He claimed that if he were president of the United States, he would send reinforcements to Texas instead of a restraining order, and promised to use all of the president's resources and powers to protect the United States.
[Texas National Guard soldiers stand guard on the banks of the Rio Grande in Shelby Park]
In addition to expressing support for Texas, Trump has attacked Biden. He said that Biden's southern border policy, which has led to a surge in illegal immigration, is destroying the United States like a "weapon of mass destruction." In addition, in recent weeks, Trump has lobbied Republicans against serious discussion of a border compromise in the Senate, which CNN notes is because he wants to use the issue to build momentum for the presidential campaign in November.
In addition to Trump, several Republican members of Congress have expressed support for Texas' approach. U.S. Republican Congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene even called for a so-called "national divorce" between the Republican-controlled "red states" and the Democratic-controlled "blue states." In response to Green's remarks, the American website "Business Insider" said that she often suggests "dividing" the United States along a political line, but similar views have been controversial and have even been criticized by colleagues within the Republican Party.
In the face of the menacing Republican Party, Biden said at a campaign rally in South Cairo that he agreed to implement tougher border measures. Under the proposed agreement, the Department of Homeland Security would be given new emergency authority to close the U.S.-Mexico border if the daily average number of illegal crossers reached 4,000 in a week. According to CNN, if the draft can be agreed with the Republican Party, it will be submitted to the Senate for consideration next week.
[Biden and Texas Governor Abbott]
At the moment, however, the Republicans are not buying it. According to CNN, House Speaker Johnson said that the agreement would not pass if it was submitted to the House of Representatives. He noted that according to this proposal put forward by the Democrats, any new power to "close borders" could only be invoked after the number of illegal border crossings reached up to 150,000 per month, and in Johnson's view, "the United States has already surrendered" when such a situation occurs.
In recent years, the problem of illegal immigration in the United States has indeed become increasingly serious. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the number of illegal immigrants apprehended at the southern border in the U.S. has increased sixfold since 2018, and in December last year, the U.S. Border Patrol arrested nearly 250,000 illegal immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, a 31% increase month-over-month and a 13% year-on-year increase, a record high.
Faced with this situation, the Republican Party in the United States has repeatedly criticized Biden's immigration policy, accusing the Biden administration of ineffective response to the border crisis and demanding that the government take stronger measures to prevent illegal immigrants from entering the United States.
Compared to Biden, the border policy under Trump was more restrictive. Under Trump, the U.S. government implemented a "zero tolerance" policy, with illegal border crossers prosecuted, adults detained, and children sent to different protection agencies. In addition, a "stay in Mexico" policy, which requires asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for a hearing before the U.S. Immigration Court, under which about 70,000 people are deported to Mexico.
After taking office, Biden denounced Trump's border policy as lacking humanitarianism, suspended the "Remain in Mexico" policy on his first day in the White House, in addition, stopped detaining immigrant families in Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and created a task force to promote the reunification of separated families.
[Mexican migrants wait in front of barbed wire]
Regarding the bipartisan border agreement being negotiated in the United States, Biden said that if the border agreement passes the Senate and becomes law, it will be "the toughest and fairest border security reform package in the history of the United States." However, CNN believes that the obvious change in Biden's attitude is still aimed at avoiding Trump's attack on the current immigration policy from affecting his election.
The border issue has replaced the economic issue that has attracted the most attention in the past and has become the most concerned issue in this year's general election. According to CBS reports, most people in the U.S. say the situation at the border is "very serious," and nearly half now say it's a crisis, more serious than last May, a change in sentiment driven largely by Democrats and independents. Because of the fundamental differences between the two parties in the United States over immigration policy, this divide is further amplified and exploited in an election year.
The standoff between Texas and the federal government over the immigration crisis has not only sent shockwaves through the political arena, but has also caused deep concern in all sectors of society. More US media are worried that the confrontation between Texas and the federal government will make the country slide into a "civil war".