"Civil war" has been a hot phrase on social media since the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of the Biden administration last week, overturning an injunction put in place by Fifth Circuit judges that said federal border agents could not cut concertina wire placed by Texas personnel along a 29-mile stretch of the Rio Grande in Maverick County, Texas.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the liberal members of the court in rendering the decision, which sends the case back to a district judge.
Now border patrol agents can cut the razor wire while that lawsuit plays out, but Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) says he will replace any wire the feds remove.
"If they cut our wire, we have more wire than they have wire cutters," Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) assured Washington Watch Monday. "Trust me. We're going to put wire everywhere along the border."
In response to the ruling, 25 Republican governors have signed a letter and issued a joint statement in support of Gov. Abbott and his efforts to secure the border:
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.
On Monday, Abbott declared on X that he will not back down.
"Almost 70% of Americans support Texas erecting barriers at the border to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing, including 53% who strongly support the action," the governor wrote. "Only 27% disagree. I will continue fighting for Americans and for Texas' self-defense."
President Joe Biden, however, is likewise unwilling to back down. But Patrick assured show host Tony Perkins that "there will not be a civil war."
"No one wants a civil war," he said. "We don't want a confrontation with the government. That whole talk, the media has kind of started it up. That's not going to happen."
Instead, Patrick predicts a reckoning.
Accountability coming for Biden?
"Eight million have crossed, and those are the ones that we've apprehended," the lieutenant governor relayed. "If we think we get one out of every two, that means 16 million have come in during the Biden administration."
So, at some point, Biden will have to answer for that.
"There's going to be a reckoning, because when you continue to allow this, we're going to have a terrorist attack from the inside potentially," Patrick warned. "We're going to have much more crime until the people can't take it anymore. We're going to have schools and hospitals overcrowded where people say, 'Enough is enough.'"
He believes that reckoning will likely be at the ballot box instead of the border.
"This can't continue," the state officer asserted. "All of his policies with boys playing girls' sports, to taking away gas stoves, saying everybody should drive electric cars – he's wrecking America, our culture, our schools, our healthcare system, our energy, our military, our border. Joe Biden is on that plan."
A matter of safety
Until that reckoning – or until the Supreme Court rules otherwise – Texas will continue to take steps to secure the border. Patrick sees these as necessary measures not only for the defense of Texas citizens, but as compassionate measures for those attempting to enter the country.
For example, a woman and two children drowned on Jan. 12 while trying to cross a dangerous section of the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass, Texas. Texas National Guard troops who had commandeered the city park border patrol agents had been using to process illegals prevented those agents from responding to the distress call from Mexican authorities. Mexican authorities recovered the bodies the following day.
Mexican officials say the three never entered U.S. territory, according to USA Today. Still, the drowning drew lots of attention, particularly from U.S. House member Henry Cuellar (D) of the 28th District of Texas, who implied indifference on the part of the Texas troops.
A statement from the Texas Military Department (TMD), however, says TMD investigated near a boat ramp on the Texas side of the river but found no migrants. Later, TMD observed Mexican authorities responding to an incident on the Mexico side. TMD reported their observations to border patrol agents, who confirmed that Mexican authorities required no additional assistance.
Since last March, border patrol agents have been carrying out an initiative to place 550 "Drowning Hazard" signs along the river banks in three counties. The signs also include numbers to call in case of emergency.
Patrick said too many people who cannot swim are drowning in the river because "Biden invites them to try."
No shortage of tragedy along the border
As Patrick pointed out, every day holds tragedy along the border, including "the tragedy of women and children coming across the border and put into sex slavery, the tragedy of fentanyl being the number-one killer of Americans 18-40, the tragedy of police officers and innocent civilians who have been killed by drunk drivers here illegally or MS-13 or other criminals."
"All that death is with Biden's policies," the lieutenant governor submitted.
He reiterated that the images of illegals filling up shelters and parks in sanctuary cities like New York and Chicago reflect just a small fraction of how many people have entered the country illegally.
"I ask all the time, where did eight million go?" he said. "Where do they live? What do they do for a job? What American jobs are they taking? What schools and emergency rooms are they filling up? Our founders never believed that any president would allow this to happen."
"We believe this is an invasion," Patrick continued. "There's going to be a reckoning if we don't secure the border. It's going to be bad for America, and it's going to be at the feet of Joe Biden."
As for the lawsuit, the head of an immigration enforcement think tank believes Texas will win its case against the federal government.
"I think it's entirely possible that when they get to judging the merits of the case, they actually will decide in Texas' favor," predicts Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies. "The basic question here is do states have a right to protect themselves when the federal government simply refuses to do so? There's a pretty strong case there, and we're going to see."
He also thinks this case will hurt Biden politically.
"The story is Biden is trying to help illegals come into the United States," Krikorian notes. "Texas isn't using armed force; they're just using regular law enforcement, and the court could very well find that the state has the right to protect itself."
He says he is "actually kind of bullish on the outcome of this case, despite this initial loss."
