![]() Litigation has been the principal avenue for Texas’s assertive leadership on immigration. And in the first weeks of the Biden administration, Texas successfully sued to block Biden’s 100-day moratorium on deportations. A subsequent lawsuit challenging the legality of the original DACA program created in 2012 remains pending in federal district court in Texas. citizens and permanent residents under a program known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). As a result of litigation by Texas and others, the Obama administration also was blocked from extending protection from deportation to parents of U.S. It had previously launched a successful legal challenge halting the Obama administration’s attempt to expand the population eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. So the timing of the declaration and other immigration measures raised some eyebrows.īeing a thorn in the side of the federal government is not new for Texas. What had certainly changed, however, was Biden entering office. ![]() There is thus a question of whether the pressures at the border changed significantly this year compared to 2019. territory and immediately expelled to Mexico or their country of origin under a pandemic-prompted restriction that was not in place in FY 2019. However, 70 percent of migrants encountered at the Texas border in FY 2021 were blocked from entering U.S. Border Patrol encountered migrants and asylum seekers in Texas border sectors nearly 606,000 times, which was 180,000 more than during the same period in fiscal year (FY) 2019, during the previous spike. From October 2020 through May 2021, the U.S. There are some differences between the current situation and that of 2019. While Abbott, a Republican, based his declaration on his assessment of the current situation at the border, with activity at a 20-year high, Texas has experienced periods of sharply increased illegal crossings in the past, most recently in spring 2019 during the Trump administration, when no state emergency designation occurred. Texas law broadly defines a disaster as “the occurrence or imminent threat of widespread or severe damage, injury, or loss of life or property resulting from any natural or man-made cause.” It is exclusively up to the governor to declare whether a disaster has occurred. While the state has allocated more than $4.4 billion for episodic border enforcement since 2008, its policies may be less likely to materially alter the situation on the ground than to advance a political agenda and embody a political spirit of opposition. Texas now seems primed to resume its position as chief foil for the Biden administration on immigration. citizens and permanent residents, taking the challenge all the way to the Supreme Court. From 2014 to 2016, Texas led the opposition to the Obama administration’s attempt to expand legal protections for DREAMers brought to the United States as children and the parents of U.S. ![]() The federal government and border states have repeatedly sparred over authority for immigration enforcement, particularly while Democrats have inhabited the White House. Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden’s designated emissary to address rising migration from Central America, visited the border just days before Trump, following criticism particularly from Republicans who have claimed the administration’s policies have brought on the rising number of arrivals. Immigration remains a politically potent issue nationally, particularly since record numbers of migrants and asylum seekers have been intercepted at the border in recent months. For Trump, immigration was a signature issue, both as a campaigner and then as president, and with this visit he is making clear it will continue to be one as he seeks to retain his control over the Republican Party. The timing and political backdrop for these measures will be underscored when the governor visits the border on June 30 alongside former President Donald Trump. Most important among these are directives to build additional barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border, ramp up arrests of unauthorized immigrants by state and local police, and revoke the licenses of shelters in Texas that house unaccompanied child migrants for the federal government. Citing the high volume of illegal border crossings, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has declared a state of disaster for relevant state agencies and border counties and embarked on a slew of actions to fill in areas that he believes the Biden administration has neglected on immigration enforcement. ![]()
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