Eagle Pass is a small town in Maverick County, Texas, United States, bordering Mexico. As you walk along Eagle Pass's Main Street, you'll feel like you're in Mexico with its sophisticated shops displaying leather goods, pottery, clothes and cloaks, stylish architecture, and authentic Mexican dishes served in restaurants.
This quiet town has recently been caught in a storm of saber-rattling and rebellion due to a migration crisis.
The small U.S.-Mexico border near Eagle Pass is the eye of the storm in the Texas and federal standoff over border management and security.
According to Xinhua news agency, the Texas National Guard has set up barbed wire and other barriers at the U.S.-Mexico border to deny entry to illegal immigrants, while also keeping U.S. federal law enforcement officers out.
On January 29, local time, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said that although the Supreme Court ordered last week to allow federal law enforcement to remove barriers erected by the state, the state will continue to build blade barbed nets and other fences along the U.S.-Mexico border. "We are doing everything we can to erect the wires. Patrick said, "We'll continue." We won't stop. If they (the federal government) cut it, we will continue to replace it. ”
Patrick threatened Texas to "confront" the federal government if the Biden administration sends a Border Patrol to clear the barriers.
Operation Lone Star is supported by 25 states
"Last Friday (Jan. 26) we went to the state troops to thank them, to support them, and hopefully stand with them if the Biden administration sends a Border Patrol there. Patrick also said, "Wisely, the Biden administration didn't do that." We're glad they didn't. We don't want confrontation, but we want the borders to be secure. ”
The White House said the Texas National Guard blocked the federal Border Patrol's access to Shelby Park, near the border in Eagle Pass, which had been used by federal agencies as a temporary immigration processing center.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that the federal government could remove Texas barriers in the region, ensuring federal law enforcement had access to all areas of the border.
Texas Governor Abbott immediately responded that the state has the authority to repel an "illegal immigrant invasion" and that state law enforcement can "override" federal law.
Abbott previously announced Operation Lone Star, an $11 billion border security plan that includes measures to stop illegal immigrants from entering the state, including setting up barbed nets, placing large water buoys on the Rio Grande and building parts of the state border wall.
After Gov. Abbott's Texas National Guard took control of Shelby Park in January, federal border patrol agents said they were unable to deal with intruding illegal immigrants in the area.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Border Patrol, last week asked Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to "allow federal agents to enter Shelby Park" by Friday. Paxton, however, rejected the request and said Texas officials would not allow the Department of Homeland Security to turn the area into an "unofficial and illegal port of entry."
"Your request is hereby denied. Paxton wrote in the letter.
Paxton pledged that "Texas will work to protect its southern border from anything that the Biden administration does to undermine the state's constitutional right to self-defense." ”
Texas law enforcement said in a statement that the Shelby Park area remains open to the public, but U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been barred from entering the area.
On the 25th local time, Republican governors from 25 states jointly signed a statement saying that they support Texas Governor Abbott in a "fierce struggle" with the federal government on border control issues.
The statement, published Thursday on the Republican Governors Association's website, criticized the Biden administration and said Texas has a constitutional right to self-defense. "We stand in solidarity with Governor Abbott and the State of Texas at all tools and tactics, including barbed wire, to secure the border. ”
"Texas are fighting for their state and the sovereignty of this country. Florida Attorney General Moody wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday. "I joined 25 other state attorneys general in sending a letter to President Biden and Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas with a simple message: If you can't enforce the law on your own, get out of the way so states can do it themselves. ”
At a news conference on Friday, White House spokesman Jean-Pierre called Governor Abbott "disrespectful of federal law" shameful. "We continue to see these political gimmicks, we continue to see these political games. "It's not safe. This does not help solve the problem. ”
Pierre also said that any changes to immigration policy must be approved by Congress and reiterated that signatories should work with their senators and representatives to advance legislative reforms.
The issue of migration is almost as important as the economy
As one of the most politically divisive and complex issues in the United States in decades, the migration and border crisis is at the forefront of the 2024 election.
The party primaries for the 2024 U.S. presidential election are underway. In the case of the recently concluded Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary, even though the two states that voted early thousands of miles from the southwestern border of the United States, when asked "which issue is most important in the Republican presidential primary," a large number of voters believe that the issue of immigration is almost as important as the economy.
Immigration and border security have been a central element of former US President Donald Trump's campaign success in 2016, advocating for the massive construction of a border wall along the US-Mexico border. After announcing his candidacy for the 2024 campaign, especially in the wake of the current surge in illegal immigration and the intensifying border crisis, Trump has called on his supporters to "unite against the 'Biden border crisis'" in every recent campaign speech.
Mr. Trump said that if elected, he plans to crack down on illegal immigration, and even legal immigration. Trump has vowed to carry out "the largest domestic deportation in U.S. history" and will sign an executive order ending birthright citizenship. New York and Illinois and other "immigrant sanctuary states" have repeatedly criticized Trump and Republican governors for being "anti-immigrant and anti-democratic."
After being named and criticized by the Democrats, Texas Governor Abbott began busting large numbers of illegal immigrants to the Democrats' sanctuary state. A few months later, Democratic governors and mayors, overwhelmed by the burden of migrant buses, began to "reverse course" and demanded that Biden "take immediate steps to address the problem of migrant break-ins at the border."
"Throughout the Biden administration, it (the immigration issue) has overshadowed everything else. Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the bipartisan Migration Policy Institute, said.
According to USCIS, in December 2023, the number of immigrants illegally entering the U.S.-Mexico border reached a record 302,000, and the number of arrests reached a record 2.2 million in fiscal year 2022. In 2023, more than 100,000 migrants have been transported to cities such as Washington, Los Angeles, and New York.
"This often goes unnoticed when society is absorbing immigrants in an orderly manner. But when suddenly there is a dramatic number of people, it becomes a different kind of problem. Chishti said.
The latest polls show that immigration is becoming a major political weakness for Biden. Currently, Biden's approval rating on immigration is only 18 percent, the lowest approval rating of any U.S. president since ABC News and The Washington Post began polling in January 2004.
Biden is running for re-election as president of the United States. He said a few days ago that the White House team is negotiating with members of Congress on an immigration bill from both parties in order to seriously deal with the "border crisis."
According to Xinhua News Agency, American columnist Julio Ricardo Barrera believes that public opinion pressure may make Biden take a tougher stance and policy on immigration to hedge Trump's advantage on immigration, but it may detract from the support of progressive and Latino groups for him.
Some analysts believe that border security is the main grasp of Trump's victory in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and the voters who support him include white blue-collar workers, uneducated people, etc., who want the federal government to implement tougher immigration and border policies, and Biden is at a disadvantage on the immigration issue, Trump's campaign may mainly revolve around the immigration issue.