Immigration is always a hot topic and former Pres. Trump was very outspoken regarding his stance on immigration during his tenure as POTUS, including allegedly using the term “shithole” to describe many poorer nations around the world during a closed door meeting with legislators, as well as instituting a “zero tolerance” policy which targets anyone crossing the illegally for detainment and deportation as opposed to focusing only on more “serious” threats as previous administrations have, which drew criticism from many who claim such ideas are contrary to the very values of America. The Biden adminstration campaigned on the call to reverse course on the Trump immigration policies by promising to be kinder, gentler, and more humane to those seeking to immigrate to the U.S. which has led to a predictable surge of epic proportions, particularly along the souther border as states such a Texas (which has the longest portion of the southern border), and which is controlled by Republican officials, have protested and resisted Pres. Biden’s more open-door stance. This immigration issue has come front and center again recently, as more than 50 people died horribly in the back of a sealed tractor-trailer while attempting to immigrate illegally into the country.
Gov. Abbott has taken a contrarian approach by promising that Texas will complete the border wall along its’ own border and has also sent troops, along with support of troops from other states led by GOP officials, to assist with border control operations. This is not the first time that Texas has taken such measures, at least in part, as other former governors such as Pres. Bush did during his tenure in that position before becoming president, as did Gov. Perry. This will lead to a legal clash between the state of Texas and the Biden administration, as Pres. Biden will rightly note that immigration is a federal matter to be handled by the federal government, while Gov. Abbott will claim that the more relaxed position of the Biden administration threatens the physical and economic security of the state, is a dereliction of federal constitutional responsibiltiy, and if the federal government will not oversee their responsibilities then Texas ought to have the right to do unilaterally.
In your opinion, what do you believe is the proper course of action in such a scenario? Is Pres. Biden’s approach/stance on the issue the correct one, despite the protests by Gov. Abbott and the state of Texas, or do you believe that in such a scenario as we have seen since Pres. Biden was sworn into office, with massive caravans of people crossing the border without proper clearance despite an ongoing global pandemic and record numbers of unaccompanied children being dropped across the border, consititute a border crisis the likes of which has not been seen for years constitute an abandonment of federal responsibilities to the states, particularly those states along the southern border? If so, should Texas be allowed to continue construction of a wall along its own border if the elected leaders there feel it to be an effective method of securing the border, or would this be an unconstitutional attempt at taking over a federal responsibilty which if allowed could lead to a patchwork of various state-level approaches to illegal immigration which could be contrary to presidential goals?