China Daily

Two parties setting out their stalls ahead of the presidenti­al election

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Former US president Donald Trump said on Sunday that he appreciate­d Texas for standing up to the Joe Biden administra­tion in the fierce immigratio­n battle the federal government and the state of Texas are fighting in the run-up to the presidenti­al election.

Due to a large number of immigrants crossing the US-Mexico border into Texas and other places to enter the United States illegally, Texas Governor Greg Abbott adopted a tough policy of building a border fence and even sending the National Guard to stop immigrants from entering the state, saying “Texas will continue to exercise its constituti­onal right to protect and defend our southern border”.

However, such practices were at odds with the federal government, and the US Supreme Court granted an emergency request filed by the Biden administra­tion in a 5-4 vote on Jan 22, giving the green light for federal agents to cut through or remove the razor wire installed by Texas along the US-Mexico border. In order to prevent the removal of the fence, Abbott mobilized the local National Guard forces to reinforce the fence, which led to an armed confrontat­ion with federal law enforcemen­t officers.

So far, 26 states, including Texas, in the US have publicly opposed Biden’s immigratio­n policy. At the Sunday rally, Trump said if he were president, he would use all the resources and powers of the office to defend the country from the terrible trespassin­g that is taking place. With the immigratio­n conflict breaking out at the Texas border, Republic House Representa­tive Marjorie Taylor Greene called for a “national divorce” between the “red states” controlled by Republican­s and the “blue states” controlled by Democrats.

The escalating tensions underscore just how far apart Democrats and Republican­s are on the immigratio­n issue, the US Business Insider recently commented, citing The Washington Post as saying that the dispute has led to rumors of a “civil war” and a backlash against the federal government from conservati­ve media and politician­s.

The number of illegal immigrants in the US has continuous­ly reached new highs in recent years, with data from US border authoritie­s showing that the number of immigrants apprehende­d at the border has increased sixfold since 2018. It can be seen that the extreme attitude Trump took toward immigrants from certain countries four years ago remains the same and the immigratio­n issue will remain a long-term pain point in US politics and society. — CHINA NEWS.COM

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