
Federal Supremacy versus the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution — that is what is coming to a head in the state of Texas.
A quick look at a map will show that more than half of the southern U.S. border with Mexico is shared with the state of Texas. That puts the Lone Star State front and center of the current mass immigration border crisis. Ranchers along the border live in fear and are having their properties crossed routinely by illegals. Gang members allowed into the United States by way of Texas move freely about the country and commit murder and other horrific crimes.
United States Immigration Laws are not being enforced. The United States Border Patrol and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are doing nothing to secure the border, protect citizens, and arrest and deport illegals.
Maybe, just maybe Abbott is fed up with the insanity intentionally created by the Biden administration. Kudos to him for fighting this fight for the Texans.
The Supreme Court Is Now Complicit in Texas’ Armed Standoff With the Feds https://t.co/coXlj2FbWI
— Shelby Lee (@clure3_mc) January 19, 2024
That is the position of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) — and he has had enough. He isn’t going to watch his state be overrun because the Feds won’t do their job. Last week Gov Abbott sent the Texas Department of Public Safety to take control of the Shelby Park region in the border city of Eagle Pass — and Federal Border Patrol agents are not invited to the party.
Texas National Guard troops are securing the area from the Feds. Abbott’s Texan crew is actively arresting border violators. This is something to which the Biden Administration objects and they are turning to the Supreme Court to intervene.
Article VI, Paragraph 2 of the Constitution gives Federal law general precedence over state law. The Tenth Amendment — part of the original Bill of Rights — states clearly and succinctly that powers not specifically granted to the Federal Government shall be reserved for the states.
While the courts have ruled in the past that states cannot enforce Federal immigration laws, there is still a question of what happens when illegal immigration is made a state offense. Texas has indeed recently passed such a law. Can a state then act to secure its border? That will surely be a legal battleground in the near future.
There is also the issue of malicious intent. If the Federal government cannot or will not provide security to its citizens, is the state of Texas required to stand down and do nothing while the border is being overrun by literally thousands of people daily? Among them are gang members, drug mules, and other people of evil intent. The question here would be: where is the breaking point, and how long will Texans tolerate the mayhem at the border — regardless of court precedent?
The policies of Texas Gov. Abbott have been at odds with the Biden Administration for numerous other issues, such as arrest and detention of illegals, the use of razor wire along the border, and the deployment of buoy barriers along the Rio Grande River. As of this writing, the Supreme Court has sided with Biden on the razor wire issue and allowed Border Patrol agents to cut the razor wire erected by Texas authorities.