Texas' standoff with the feds in Eagle Pass is igniting calls for secession and fears of violence
Texas' standoff with the feds in Eagle Pass is igniting calls for secession and fears of violence
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.
48I’m not giving the KKK an inch as well as condemning half the states population.
58I say we provide free transport to anyone who wants to leave. There are plenty of unclaimed islands to drop them off.
1
Somebody check Abbott's high school yearbook, see if he won the vote for "most likely to secede".
40The Moskovites are on an influence campaign again I guess.
35Fears of succession?
Fuck 'em. Let 'em fuck around and find the fuck out. Can they take the rest of the alt-right nation with them?
27All 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.
26Won't that be Texan's wanting to move north?
12well, yeah.
It's all projection with them. The asylum seekers are invading. because that's what they think they're gonna do. ya'know?
16
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.
23I'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.
2They have Democrat "hostages". You're being such an Israel RN...
1
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👍
22It's gonna be fun. When the drug. Carrels realize there is now a whole country they can take over just north of Mexico.
12
Give em back to Mexico and make sure the "remain in Mexico" policy sticks. Mexico will know what to do.
20Laugh when the idea is first mentioned to them, followed by, "wait, you're serious?" Then more laughter?
2
Can we please just let them go this time?
19No, Texas is part of the US. Instead, we should execute any of these secessionists as the treasonous people that they are.
62Let them go and the white nationalists forever lose electoral power in what remains of America. As a black man... I support this reduction in threats to my life and my family's life.
20
I don't think they've ever filed the paperwork - like they keep loudly saying how they so badly want to go, but then they never follow through, can you imagine that?
Wanna fight me bro, we can go outside RIGHT NOW.
Okay.
Oh uh... I have somewhere I need to be right now...
16Can we realistically move everybody who wishes to remain a US citizen? Who pays for their move?
What about all of the federal government employees, including military, who currently live and work in the state?
This kind of thing would probably take months just for physical moving of households and I wonder if we even have the throughput to get this accomplished before whatever arbitrary succession date.
No matter figuring out what happens to everybody paying into federal services such as social security and Medicare. The fed will laugh in the face of anybody trying to claim back 20 years of taxes because they aren’t using a system they paid into. 20 million or so taxpayers who decide to secede will have to just give up what they’ve invested.
15Fair questions and all irrelevant. Emigration/immigration happens every day. We already know how to handle all of this. We also have historical examples in the creation of European, African, and Asian states during the 20th century. Just within the last few decades, we have the collapse of the USSR, the creation of South Sudan, and Brexit. It can be done.
3
Nope, they have to fight their way out.
4What about the 45% of the state that doesn't support the Republicans?
4They’ll have the misfortune of being the minority in a majority-rule country if they want to stay. Or, if they’ve been paying attention, they can gerrymander themselves into power and change things to suit themselves.
5
Those people are hoping for violence. They believe a war is coming, and that they are poised to win.
14texit. texit. texit.
there...i said it three times and they re still here.
13In 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.
11'+ oil isn't exactly the commodity of the future
2Calgary and Houston are virtually the same place. Its wild.
1
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7Fully close the border for couple years but also do not bail out any
companies/farmslarge corporations and banks that fail2Corporations/companies/farrms with 3 mansions and a barn*
0
DEATH TO THE STORMCLOAKS!
4Balkanization of US? Please proceed. What could go wrong right?
3Permanently Deleted
-1Wouldve been easier if the feds just did their jobs and secured the border. 6 million in 3 years is ridiculous.
-77You 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.
61How 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.
47They should get fucked over too.
-13
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.
156 million in 3 years is ridiculous.
In the immortal words of Ron Burgundy, I don't believe you.
4In 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
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/10/29/us/illegal-border-crossings-data.html
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