Biden and Republican Rebellion: See You in Court, Mr. President

By Armin Sijamić

In the shadow of the legal disputes against former US President Donald Trump, another crisis is shaking the world's greatest power, threatening to escalate further.

At the end of last month, the White House entered into a conflict with the state of Texas. The Rio Grande River separates this federal state from Mexico, meaning the river is an international border over which the central government in Washington has authority. However, the influx of migrants into Texas has forced Governor Greg Abbott to take radical steps – placing physical barriers on the border with Mexico.

Abbott was previously in the spotlight, as a Republican governor, he held opposing views to the central government led by Democrat Joseph Biden. During the coronavirus epidemic, he took a different stance from Biden, who urged citizens to get vaccinated and wear masks. Abbott's measures were mild, so he banned local authorities in Texas from requiring vaccination and mask-wearing certificates and prevented them from closing businesses.

Buses in front of the US Vice President's Residence

Coronavirus is currently a thing of the past, and the issue of illegal migration is still on Abbott's table. He is a strong opponent of illegal migration, so he has resorted to various measures before. In early October last year, he picked up 41 migrants from a border crossing with Mexico and brought them to the doorstep of US Vice President Kamala Harris's residence in Washington.

He then repeated this several times, calling on Harris to come and see the situation at the border and Biden to do his job. "As long as President Biden does not stand up and do his job, Texas will continue to transport migrants by bus to sanctuary cities to provide relief to our overcrowded border towns," Abbott's spokesperson said in May.

In April, Abbott transported 17,500 migrants to Washington D.C., New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia. According to Abbott's team, migrants are not forced to board the bus but gladly accept the transport. They claim that border towns do not have the capacity to accept all migrants and therefore send them to cities where there is accommodation. The commonality among the cities to which he transports migrants is that they are governed by Democrats. Abbott, like Trump, is in favor of building a wall and preventing migrants from entering the country, while Democrats are more open to receiving them.

The decision to transport migrants by bus to other parts of the country coincides with the expiration of Trump's "Title 42" order, which was enacted during the spread of coronavirus. With that order, under the guise of health concerns, authorities could more easily deport migrants and prevent them from seeking asylum. Around 2.8 million people were deported from the country in this manner. Biden's current order allows migrants to seek asylum, meaning they can cross the border, and then a court decides who has the right to stay in the US.

See You in Court, Mr. President

This Biden decision has led to a record number of migrants at the Mexican-American border, and Texas is the first to bear the brunt. At the end of July, Abbott began placing physical barriers on the Rio Grande, huge buoys linked by a chain. In addition, he erected a fence on the banks. He did not have permission from Washington for this move, which warned him that the Rio Grande is an international river, that its navigability is threatened, and that it encroaches on the jurisdiction of the central authorities.

Washington asked Abbott to remove the barriers. "Texas will fully utilize its Constitutional authority to address the crisis you have created. See you in court, Mr. President," Abbott wrote in a letter to Biden. Abbott said that Texas has the sovereign right to defend its borders and will do so.

This is not the first time that the central authorities and Texas will face a judge. The Attorney General accused Texas in 2021 of exceeding its authority when the local police stopped vehicles transporting migrants, under the pretext that they could contribute to the spread of coronavirus.

How the court case will end is currently unknown, but voters will also have their say, as the issue of migrants has become important in the new clash between Republicans and Democrats.

Trump's Policy and Social Divisions

Although facing multiple lawsuits and charges that could lead to life imprisonment, Trump is by far the most popular Republican. The difference, according to polls, between him and his main rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, in the race for the Republican presidential nomination is almost forty percent. DeSantis needs a miracle to defeat Trump.

Trump has therefore dedicated himself to criticizing Biden's policies, which are encountering obstacles in Congress, where Republicans have a majority. One of Trump's main grievances is migrants. Trump said in February that "millions of illegal migrants from 160 different countries have entered through our southern border," which has generated billions of dollars in profits for drug cartels selling "poison" to people and children. "Violent killers, rapists, and violent criminals are being released from prison to continue their crime spree," he said, adding that violence in the country is at a record high.

Trump also makes other accusations, such as Biden's policy towards Ukraine leading the country into a world war. But in addition to criticism of the state of the economy, the issue of migration has become noticeably apparent in a large part of the country. The pressure on the budget and the local population is such that even New York cannot cope with it and is asking Biden for money.

Tens of thousands of migrants are on the streets of this city, and accommodation facilities are full. Attempts to build new shelters are met with resistance from the local population, who want parks, recreational areas, playgrounds... Since last spring, about a hundred thousand migrants have arrived in the city, which will cost the city, which provides them with food and accommodation, twelve billion dollars by 2025. Some of them arrived on Abbott's buses.

New York has regulations that ensure accommodation for migrants, preserving the city's image known worldwide, partly because migrants built it. However, resistance from the local population is growing, and they are even signing petitions to prevent the construction of new accommodation facilities. The city spent $1.45 billion in fiscal year 2023 on migrant accommodation, and in June, they planned an additional $2.9 billion for the same needs in 2024.

However, the issue of money is not the main point of contention between Democrats and Republicans. It is, above all, a clash of two political concepts. When appealing to Abbott to remove the barriers from the Rio Grande, Washington stated that it was necessary to do so also because of "humanitarian implications." Republicans, like Abbott and Trump, do not overly consider this factor.

The presidential elections, which will be held in fifteen months, could be a kind of finale to this dispute between the two parties. But it is already clear that the issue of migration is one that the Biden administration must deal with in the near future. Republicans are ready to punish all of Biden's policy failures on migration, and Abbott's actions show how important this issue has become and how far they are willing to go.