'Extremely Dangerous': Texas Border Battle Portends Growing US Dysfunction, Civil War?

'Extremely Dangerous': Texas Border Battle Portends Growing US Dysfunction, Civil War?

John Miles

The fight over states’ rights versus the power of the US federal government hearkens back to the country’s 19th-century Civil War.

Activist Anthony Rogers-Wright joined Sputnik’s Political Misfits program Friday to discuss the escalating border standoff between Texas and the US federal government, a dispute that strikes at long standing controversies at the core of the country’s system of governance.

“Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has said he's just not going to comply with the order from the Biden administration to let federal Border Patrol agents access this state park, Shelby Park, on the Rio Grande,” noted host Michelle Witte, “where Texas is undertaking its own efforts to block migrants from crossing in defiance of federal law.”

Witte noted that Texas officials have apparently chosen to ignore Supreme Court orders governing the conduct of Texas National Guardsmen, employing highly emotional language claiming the state is defending against an “invasion” of migrants at the border.

“We already have a dysfunctional Supreme Court,” said Rogers-Wright, a view shared by most Americans as voters’ approval of the institution sinks to just 41%. “It seems like governmental trickle down dysfunction is working just fine here.” The activist slammed Biden’s response to the crisis, suggesting Republican candidate Donald Trump is more effectively “demonstrating leadership” through his unyielding stance on the issue.

“Joe Biden is blowing it right now with a constituency that he's not polling very well with and essentially what he's doing is kicking the can down the road,” he added, decrying the consequences of “macho men with guns getting into a heated debate in a country that already has a gun violence problem.”

“If one skirmish like that happens, oh my goodness, what would happen after that, like, nobody knows,” said Rogers-Wright. “Joe Biden's got to step up and get a handle on this immediately. It's not something that you can send Blinken to do your bidding. You got to step up now, get your butt on Air Force One, go down to Texas and handle this.”

Texas is often seen as among the most independent-minded states in the US, previously existing as a self-governing republic from 1836 until 1846. Texan politicians occasionally raise the prospect of seceding from the United States. Similar efforts are sometimes proposed in California, and the former husband of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin previously held membership in the local Alaskan Independence Party.

Secession efforts in the US have never gained widespread support in modern times but the issue reverberates on a deep level as states often chafe at orders from the federal government.

“Biden has to get control of it, not just because of the humanitarian aspect of it, but this is a constitutional crisis right in front of us right now,” said Rogers-Wright. “We haven't really seen anything like this since the era of Jim Crow where governors were just saying… ‘I don't care what you're saying.’ Even Eisenhower, with Little Rock, tapped into the National Guard to protect these young Black students.”

Political polarization remains at an all-time high in the United States, a reality perhaps best demonstrated by the controversy over riots at the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021. As controversy remains over the disputed role of federal and state authorities in Texas observers fear tensions could boil over into a violent event, particularly if federal and state troops are forced to interact.