A leading Texas independence campaigner has argued the ongoing migrant crisis, including warnings that some migrants have become “more aggressive towards law enforcement,” demonstrate the need for the Lone Star State to leave the Union.
The claim was made to Newsweek by Daniel Miller, president of the secessionist Texas Nationalist Movement which campaigns for Texan independence, or Texit. It came after NewsNation revealed a memo from the Texas Department of Public Safety (TDPS) to border control guards warning that “migrants have become more aggressive towards law enforcement as they attempt to circumvent the border barriers and enter the U.S.”
Over the past few months illegal migration into Texas has sparked tensions between federal and state authorities. Earlier this month footage of migrants pushing their way past a razor-wire fence and National Guard troops to enter the U.S. in El Paso, Texas, went viral on social media leading Governor Greg Abbott to dispatch another 700 troops to the border as reinforcements.
Speaking to Newsweek in response to the TDPS’s warning about some migrants becoming more aggressive, Miller said: “These migrants know there will be no federal consequences for their actions while they continue to be supported and enabled by the Biden administration.
“Both Mexico and the Federal Government are doing everything in their power to encourage this aggression. If Texas is being forced to stand alone, then we should make it official and withdraw from the union.”
Newsweek contacted the White House press office for comment at 12:40 p.m. ET on Saturday. This article will be updated if it decides to comment.
In January the Supreme Court ruled federal agents could remove razor wire placed along the Texas-Mexico border on the orders of Abbott. This sparked a furious response from the governor who claimed Texas was being “invaded” and invoked its “constitutional authority to defend and protect itself.”
In February a bipartisan $118 billion border and foreign aid bill negotiated in the Senate collapsed when it became clear it wouldn’t pass the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
The legislation would have toughened the requirements to claim asylum and provided additional border security, but GOP critics argued it didn’t go far enough in combatting illegal migration.
Tim Warner/GETTY
A survey of 814 eligible voters in Texas conducted exclusively for Newsweek by Redfield & Wilton Strategies between February 1 and 3 found 23 percent of respondents would vote for Texas to be an “independent country” in a hypothetical independence referendum, versus 67 percent for “a state within the United States.”
The survey also found that 44 percent of Texans were either more likely or significantly more likely to back independence due to the ongoing migrant crisis on the southern border. This contrasted with 35 percent who said it made them “neither more nor less likely” to back secession from the U.S. and 16 percent who replied it makes them less likely to support independence.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.