The Powder Keg at the Border

Inaction has led to a national crisis

Republican governors versus the Democratic president. The power of the states facing off with the authority of the federal government. From my seat in the Midwest, this political clash at our country’s southern border feels tense and potentially explosive.

This is the time where President Joe Biden and Congress will come together and pass a bipartisan plan that can bring safety, stability and a clear policy going forward, right?

If only…

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

The Republican Governors Association sent out this statement following the ongoing drama between Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, and the Biden administration after Abbott took a series of actions to address the continued surge of migrants at his state’s border:

“President Biden and his Administration have left Americans and our country completely vulnerable to unprecedented illegal immigration pouring across the Southern border. Instead of upholding the rule of law and securing the border, the Biden Administration has attacked and sued Texas for stepping up to protect American citizens from historic levels of illegal immigrants, deadly drugs like fentanyl, and terrorists entering our country. 

“We stand in solidarity with our fellow Governor, Greg Abbott, and the State of Texas in utilizing every tool and strategy, including razor wire fences, to secure the border. We do it in part because the Biden Administration is refusing to enforce immigration laws already on the books and is illegally allowing mass parole across America of migrants who entered our country illegally. 

“The authors of the U.S. Constitution made clear that in times like this, states have a right of self-defense, under Article 4, Section 4 and Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution. Because the Biden Administration has abdicated its constitutional compact duties to the states, Texas has every legal justification to protect the sovereignty of our states and our nation.”

Signatories include: Governor Kay Ivey (AL), Governor Mike Dunleavy (AK), Governor Sarah Sanders (AR), Governor Ron DeSantis (FL), Governor Brian Kemp (GA), Governor Brad Little (ID), Governor Eric Holcomb (IN), Governor Kim Reynolds (IA), Governor Jeff Landry (LA), Governor Tate Reeves (MS), Governor Mike Parson (MO), Governor Greg Gianforte (MT), Governor Jim Pillen (NE), Governor Joe Lombardo (NV), Governor Chris Sununu (NH), Governor Doug Burgum (ND), Governor Mike DeWine (OH), Governor Kevin Stitt (OK), Governor Henry McMaster (SC), Governor Kristi Noem (SD), Governor Bill Lee (TN), Governor Spencer Cox (UT), Governor Glenn Youngkin (VA), Governor Jim Justice (WV), and Governor Mark Gordon (WY).

Abbott has led a Texas effort to install razor wires (potentially deadly) to deter migrants from attempting the dangerous water crossing from Mexico to Texas and through southern border entries once they made it to land. Too extreme?

That seems to be the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. Abbott has been undeterred, using National Guard members to install additional barriers while patrolling and physically blocking migrants from entering and apprehending those who do make it through. And he is getting support from Republican leaders across the country.

Did it have to come to this? Of course not. I’m not able to explain the Biden administration’s policy when it comes to migration/immigration reform. Three years ago, Vice President Kamala Harris was tasked with traveling to Central America to look at the root causes of why so many migrants were trying to get into the U.S. (government corruption, gangs, drugs, violence, extreme poverty, COVID-19 aftermath and significant weather catastrophes).

Those efforts made no apparent short-term change, which is what Americans’ attention span (politicians’ attention span, for sure) demand. But last year, CNN detailed billions in private sector commitments to increase economic opportunities for struggling Central Americans, which could give them hope to find better lives in their home countries. Read that CNN report here.

So perhaps that’s a start? But what will help NOW?

So many migrants are coming to the border (a record 300,000 encounters at the border in December, according to the Biden administration). That’s far more than Border Patrol agents and the court system can handle.

It’s naive to think the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives will work with Biden on a border deal. One reason why: There are numerous national reports saying that former president Donald Trump is pressuring leaders not to agree to a deal.

This is an election year.

Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress during Trump’s administration.

Did they build and finance a wall across the southern border like Trump wanted? No.

Did Trump get Mexico to pay for the wall like he claimed? No.

Did they deport the millions of migrants already living in the U.S. illegally? No.

Did they let those already here have a path to citizenship or some other means of legal status? No.

Did they speed up the process so asylum seekers would get quicker answers about whether they could get legal permission from the federal government to live in the U.S.? No?

Did they line the border with military members or federal agents where there isn’t sufficient fencing/barricades? No.

Now substitute Biden for Trump. Biden, too, enjoyed control of both chambers by his party. So what did Democrats do when they had the power? Just add the word “no” to the questions that I mentioned above.

And nothing has changed since Republicans took over the majority in the U.S. house.

Border security and immigration reform have been issues for decades. Congress after Congress and presidential administration after administration fail to take action that leads to long-term change. Is there any reason to think this latest standoff will end any differently?

Sorry to be so cynical. But politicians apparently haven’t felt like they really need to take any meaningful action to address what’s been happening. Maybe they don’t feel like American citizens care enough to hold them accountable to do something.

Are they right?

Thanks for reading. Thanks for caring.

ETC…

I talked to two Iowa Republican political strategists about what the caucus results told us regarding what’s important to people. Watch that interview here.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds told me that she’s willing to have a conversation with Donald Trump to see how they can work together in the future. Although, she isn’t sure that Trump wants to talk to her since she refused to endorse him before the Iowa Caucuses and backed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis instead. One thing that the governor told me that she won’t support is Trump’s claim that presidents should have total immunity from criminal prosecution. Watch our conversation here.

I had a fascinating discussion with two Mahaska County, Iowa farmers (husband and wife) on how they diversify so much of their lives…from their work on the farm, their jobs off the farm and the various crops they raise (not to mention the cows that they have in tribute to the red-headed mom in this family!). The husband did the interview atop a mountain in Colorado (There’s a good reason for that). See that American Farmland Owner interview here.

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