By Armin Sijamić
As this year's presidential elections approach, Joseph Biden faces increasing challenges. His administration has many problems, but one stands out in many ways. The conflict with the Texas authorities has opened the possibility of an internal conflict in the United States, or at least a crisis in which Washington will not be able to enforce its will on its own borders.
The eyes of the world public have been focused on Ukraine for two years, and on the Gaza Strip and the Middle East for the past few months. One of the main actors in these conflicts are the United States, which supports one of the warring parties in various ways.
Below the radar of a large part of the public is a crisis unfolding in the United States, which began to culminate half a year ago. At that time, the clash between Joseph Biden and the Republican Governor of Texas, Gregg Abbott, was legal and political, and now it has reached the brink from which return is difficult and from which one side will emerge defeated.
As we wrote at the time, Abbott was outraged at the Washington authorities who had de facto opened the borders to millions of illegal migrants from Latin America. Last year, Mexico had migrants from at least 114 nations on its territory, and all of them tried to reach the world's largest economy.
In anger that Biden was not sufficiently protecting the border with Mexico, Abbott, whose Texas is the main entry point for migrants into the US, began transporting migrants by bus across the state, especially to areas governed by Democrats. Some of them ended up in front of the residence of US Vice President Kamala Harris, and New York authorities admitted that there were no more hotels to accommodate the migrants.
Abbott's Border
Since he was not satisfied with the work of the border guards, who are under Washington's command, Abbott decided to set up physical barriers to prevent migrants from entering Texas. In addition, he engaged the state guard, local police, and then citizens joined him.
Last week, the Supreme Court ordered Abbott to remove all physical barriers at the border, especially on the Rio Grande river, and to allow border guards to do their job, meaning he should not interfere with the work of federal agencies and the jurisdiction of the central government. While federal authorities were preparing to remove the barriers, Texas authorities were building new ones. Abbott stated that he would prevent the Biden administration from "destroying our property," referring to the fences, wires, and other barriers he had erected along the border with Mexico.
Abbott believes he is right and that the law allows him to protect that federal state, including its external borders. He was supported in this by 26 Republican governors of federal states, and some of them sent people and resources to help him prevent migrant entries. Previously, Biden threatened to "federalize" the Texas Guard, meaning to place it under Washington's control.
Thus, the state, which is second in area and second in population within the United States, came into conflict with the central authorities. More precisely, Abbott, in a way, decided to refuse to submit to the central authorities, while still holding the legal and political ground.
He received support for such behavior from former President Donald Trump, who said he would send reinforcements to Texas if he were in power, then from some congressmen and senators, public figures, and Robert F. Kennedy, who is not a Republican.
But things could get out of control. "God's Army," as a group of conservative activists calls itself, headed towards the border. It is now estimated that around forty thousand trucks are heading towards the border with Mexico to help Abbott and Texas. In a state whose population is armed to the teeth and where security forces with various tasks are arriving, along with rivers of migrants, this could be a recipe for disaster.
Rebellion Against Washington
The magazine Newsweek also believes that things could get out of control. In its latest issue, it featured a story on the cover about the possibility of "Texit," i.e., the possibility of that state with over thirty million inhabitants and an area twice the size of Germany seceding from the United States. Five days ago, on its website, Newsweek wrote that some within the United States "fear a civil war" in Texas. American rivals around the world have also joined in, triumphantly telling the world's greatest power to take care of its internal affairs.
Such a possibility is unlikely at this moment, but it indicates the potential gravity of the crisis if things continue to unfold in this manner and if Biden and Abbott remain in their positions without reaching an agreement. However, what is likely is that one of these two policies will be defeated, and
Abbott's stance has revived ideas of Texas independence, which some groups (like the Texas Nationalist Movement) have not abandoned, and which collected signatures last month to organize a referendum on independence. In addition, some Republicans (Ted Cruz, Chip Roy, Marjorie Taylor Greene...) in anger against Democrats and the Washington authorities sometimes flirt with the idea of Texas seceding from the US if their wishes and demands are not met.
Abbott has said he does not intend to give up protecting the Texas border, despite court orders and central government directives. However, what is much more dangerous for Biden and the United States as a whole is the fact that he is not alone in this and that he is supported by governors, politicians, and citizens. The outrage towards President Biden's migration policy is growing to such an extent that some have been claiming on social media for days that Biden cares more about the borders of Ukraine or Israel than the country he leads.
The cases of Israel and Ukraine could be a way out of this crisis in the coming days, some in the United States believe. Namely, Biden's intention to militarily and financially support Ukraine and Israel has been halted in the Senate. Republicans are demanding the strengthening of the border with Mexico as a condition for their support for the new aid package, which could potentially satisfy Abbott and other governors. Otherwise, it could happen that at some point both Biden and Abbott lose control of the situation.
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