Biden’s suing Texas for actually defending borders? You have got to be kidding. | Opinion
Migrants have been crossing the Rio Grande placing their own lives and those of local law enforcement at risk for some time. A few weeks ago, four migrants and an infant died. To deter other, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered buoys with razor wire on them to stretch across the river.
On Monday, President Joe Biden’s Justice Department sued Abbott and the state, over the structures in the river, claiming their placement violates federal law.
The lawsuit asks a federal judge in Austin to order Texas to remove the roughly 1,000 feet of buoys in the Rio Grande. The suit claims that Texas unlawfully installed the barrier between the border cities of Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras, Mexico, without permission from the president. A letter sent to Abbott before the suit was filed argued that the buoys “poses a risk to navigation, as well as public safety” and cited “humanitarian concerns.”
Politics is all fun and games until people start dying trying to reach Texas. Abbott has taken this seriously. This is no time for Biden to play politics with his petty lawsuit. The fact is that the border has become porous, chaotic and lawless, due in part to Biden’s policies — such as lifting the Trump-era ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy.
The question is: Whose responsibility is it to secure the border?
Abbott believes the responsibility falls to Texas to secure our own border if Biden is unwilling or unable to do so — which he clearly is. In a response to Biden’s lawsuit, Abbott says as much, pointing out that “the Constitution grants Texas sovereign authority to protect its borders because the president refuses to enforce federal immigration laws.” Some might say this is an untested legal theory, but in practice, Biden has left Texas no choice.
“To end the risk that migrants will be harmed crossing the border illegally, you must fully enforce the laws of the United States that prohibit illegal immigration between ports of entry. In the meantime, Texas will fully utilize its constitutional authority to deal with the crisis you have caused. Texas will see you in court, Mr. President,” Abbott says in a letter to Biden.
Kudos to Abbott for consistently using whatever state and federal resources are available to defend our border when Biden has made doing so harder. The administration interferes as Abbott tries to make crossing the Rio Grande in dangerous places difficult. There are ways to enter the U.S. via Texas, and migrants claiming asylum (or not) should use specified ports of entry, which include bridges that cross the river, to do so.
A nation with a porous border cannot remain sovereign or safe. Biden’s lawsuit simply adds fuel to an already-hot flame — our chaotic border and immigration situation.
In suing Texas, Biden shows how petty and frivolous he is and that he’d rather have some kind of “gotcha” than aid Texas in its fight for border security.
