All opinions expressed in this article are solely the opinions of the contributors.
The U.S. Border Patrol recorded more than 6.3 million encounters with illegal immigrant border crossers since President Biden assumed office in January 2021. Preliminary numbers for December 2023 reveal 302,000 encounters along the southwest border, marking the highest monthly total on record. In response to the escalating number of illegal border crossings, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, R, launched Operation Lone Star, a state-level initiative aimed at enhancing control over immigration enforcement.
Straight Arrow News contributor Ben Weingarten supports Gov. Abbott’s position, arguing that the Lone Star State is within its Constitutional rights to address the “invasion” of illegal immigrants and defend its sovereignty.
It [Texas] has undertaken a slew of measures to defend its border, which it has argued in court has led to over 475,000 illegal alien apprehensions, tens of thousands of criminal arrests, and the seizing of 428 million lethal doses of fentanyl. Among its actions are placing physical barriers to prevent or minimally deter would-be border crossers, including installing concertina wire — coiled barbed wire.
One area where it’s done so is Eagle Pass, where 14,000 people entered in under two weeks recently–nearly half the city’s population. Yet Texas says federal agents have been destroying the wire across a 29-mile stretch of riverbank there to “encourage and assist thousands of aliens to illegally cross the Rio Grande and enter Texas…not only cut[ing] Texas’ concertina wire, but also attach[ing] ropes or cables from the back of pickup trucks to ease aliens’ ability to illegally climb up the riverbank into Texas…they regularly cut new openings in the wire fence, sometimes immediately after Texas officers have placed new wire to plug gaps in fencing barriers.”
It’s outrageous, so Texas sued the feds for thwarting their border security efforts. And it sought an injunction to stop the feds from continuing to destroy fencing in the interim.
That controversy wound up at the Supreme Court, which last week vacated the injunction — striking down the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling in Texas’ favor by a 5-4 vote in which Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Barrett joined the court’s liberals.
Texas is vowing not to back down.
