Texas orders new border action, migrant bus charters to Washington
SAN ANTONIO — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state troopers on Wednesday to begin stopping and inspecting commercial vehicles coming across the U.S-Mexico border and said bus charters would be offered to take migrants to Washington, D.C., in a dig at President Joe Biden and Congress.
Texas officials also said they would begin “increased military activity” on the southern border and install razor wire at some low-water points along the river to deter migrants from crossing.
The new directives amount to the “unprecedented actions” that Abbott promised in response to the Biden administration winding down a public health law - now set to expire in May - that has limited asylumseekers in the name of preventing the spread of COVID-19. When that happens, it is expected to draw potentially thousands more migrants to the southern border.
Flanked by Texas troopers in the border city of Weslaco, Abbott acknowledged that additional inspections of commercial vehicles near the U.S. ports of entry will “dramatically slow” vehicle traffic coming into the country.
But the latest orders further push the limits of a multibilliondollar Texas border security mission that the two-term Republican governor, who is running for reelection in November, has made the cornerstone of his administration. Already, Texas has deployed thousands of troopers and National Guard members, installed new border barrier and arrested thousands of migrants on trespassing charges.
Still, the efforts do not go far enough for some former Trump administration officials, who are pressing Abbott to declare an “invasion” and give state law enforcement sweeping new authority to turn back migrants - essentially bestowing enforcement powers that have been a federal responsibility.
That concept is legally dubious, nearly unprecedented and would almost certainly face swift court challenges, according to some constitutional experts.
Abbott, who is up for reelection in November and is already installing more border
barrier and allowing troopers to arrest migrants on trespassing charges, did not say Wednesday whether he supports such a proposal. He said more actions would be announced next week.
Border Patrol officials say they are planning for as many as 18,000 arrivals daily once the health policy, known as the Title 42 authority, expires in May. Last week, about 7,100 migrants were coming a day to the southern U.S. border.
But the way former Trump immigration officials see it, Texas and Arizona can pick up where the federal government leaves off once the policy ends. Their plan involves a novel interpretation of the U.S. Constitution to have the National Guard or state police forcibly
send migrants to Mexico, without regard to immigration laws and law enforcement procedures. Border enforcement has always been a federal responsibility, and in Texas, state leaders have not been pushing for such a move.
Driving the effort on the right is the Center for Renewing America, a conservative policy think tank led by former Trump administration officials. It includes Ken Cuccinelli, an immigration hard-liner and former Homeland Security official under Trump. He argued that states are entitled to defend themselves from immediate danger or invasion, as it is defined by the “invasion clause,” under the “states self-defense clause.”