Especially when it comes to migrant workers
I’m sure you’ve seen the horrific pictures of that cruel, spiked buoy barrier Texas Gov. Greg Abbot has unfurled in the middle of the Rio Grande. Luckily, the feds have decided to take action:
One of the more pernicious developments in our politics is the effort by red-stategovernors to assert outsize power over immigration in their states, in ways designed to appeal to national right-wing audiences. For instance, the state of Texas recently placed a large barrier in the Rio Grande, supposedly to keep migrants out, but actually justto send a message to Fox News viewers that the state is securing the border where President Biden allegedly refused.
But now the Justice Department has sent a letter to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott notifying him that the department will sue the state over the barrier if Texas does not commit to removing it by Monday afternoon.
“The State of Texas’s actions violate federal law, raise humanitarian concerns, present serious risks to public safety and the environment, and may interfere with the federal government’s ability to carry out its official duties,” reads the letter I obtained.
Many of Texas’ moves on immigration policyseem deliberately provocative. Abbott openly declared that the barrier in the Rio Grande was designed for “securing the border” by preventing migrants from “even getting to the border,” a declaration that Texas sees itself taking over border policy.
“The Biden administration is asserting its authority over the border, and rightly so,” immigration attorney David Leopold told me. “Texas has no business taking over federal immigration law, which is what they’re doing.”
In its letter, the Justice Department flatly states that the barrier obscures navigation of the Rio Grande in violation of federal law and that the Army Corps of Engineers didn’t authorize the move.
“Texas does not have authorization from the Corps to install the floating barrier and did not seek such authorization before doing so,” the letter states.
While the Justice Department’s letter does not accuse Texas of usurping its authority on immigration in particular, the move signals that the department is closely watching to see whether Texas’s future moves do violate federal laws, on immigration and across the board.
“If DOJ is forced to sue Texas, the law clearly favors the federal government which has authority over floating barriers in navigable waters,” Leopold told me. “My prediction is that a federal judge will order Texas to remove the barriers.” He added that the clear message going forward is that the administration “will not stand idly by.”
Sargent makes the point that all these stunts are performances for the Fox News rubes. There isn’t a big crisis at the border but they have to do everything they can to create pictures and stories that give that impression.
It’s sick.