What’s happening at the Texas border? \ stacker news ~culture

3157 sats \ 30 comments \ @kr 25 Jan culture

As a Canadian I’m a step removed from US politics and don’t fully understand the situation developing at the Texas border.

I get that there is a lot of illegal immigration happening, and it seems like Texas wants to stop it.

What I’m more curious about is the follow-on effects of this desire to stop illegal immigration against the backdrop of a White House administration that doesn’t seem to care about illegal immigration.

I saw Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s letter yesterday, and would love to hear more from stackers in Texas on the sentiment right now.

After reading Governor Abbott’s letter I heard some folks on Twitter calling for the beginning of another civil war, which seems like a big escalation… but maybe I just didn’t fully appreciate the scope of the problem.

A few questions for stackers:

If you were in charge of setting immigration policy and defending America’s border, what would you change?
What is the most likely path towards resolving the increase in illegal immigration in America?
If you’re based in TX/CA/AZ/NM, have you felt/seen the impact of the recent illegal immigration?
If so, can you elaborate on the effects?

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1547 sats \ 3 replies \ @ElDude 25 Jan

Based in a Texas close to the border and see it everyday. The amount of people crossing daily is insane, and they know they’ll get a free pass as soon as they cross.

I’ve seen people cross and wait for border patrol to pick them up. They already know the process and know that surrendering to BP will get them in the country faster.

Illegal immigrants have been house at various locations to include motels and facilities run by cities and are then transported by bus, some even by plane, to sanctuary cities or family that is already in the country.

Operation Lonestar is bolstering security at the border, National Guard troops are only allowed to report illegal immigrants to BP.

Stronger border security and better policies would greatly help. As I stated, people crossing illegally already know the process, that’s why they’re crossing at high numbers.

33 sats \ 2 replies \ @kr OP 25 Jan

that’s wild, so what actually happens when someone gets across the border and gets caught?

do they need to go to a court somewhere to make their case for entering? is everyone being let in? or just more people than before?

1016 sats \ 1 reply \ @ElDude 25 Jan

They are detained after being caught, during the process they are given a court date for immigration court. With the amount of illegal immigrants the immigration court is back logged so their court date isn’t anytime in the near future, some might even be in a year or two.

Once they receive their court date they are either released and expected to appear to that court date. They are being bused to sanctuary cities where they are dropped off.

The point is they are released and expected to appear to their court date, which doesn’t happen.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @kr OP 25 Jan

got it, and i imagine even if someone did appear for their court date and was told to leave the country, it probably requires significant time/effort/money to make sure this actually happens

1345 sats \ 0 replies \ @freetx 25 Jan

Situation is heating up. Ultimately feds will be backed down by courts (I hope).

966 sats \ 1 reply \ @SimpleStacker 25 Jan

After reading Governor Abbott’s letter I heard some folks on Twitter calling for the beginning of another civil war, which seems like a big escalation… but maybe I just didn’t fully appreciate the scope of the problem.

The scope is actually quite severe. Something like 2+ million new entrants in the last few years? That's almost 1% of the population, higher than the overall population growth rate. I have no doubt that border towns and other immigrant destinations are struggling to deal with the huge flow of people.

Civil war analogy comes down to the conflict between states and the federal government, as it did last time.

If you were in charge of setting immigration policy and defending America’s border, what would you change?

I'd devote less money to fighting foreign wars and instead devote more resources to enforcing our already existing immigration policy, humanely but lawfully.

What is the most likely path towards resolving the increase in illegal immigration in America?

I'm not sure because I'm not entirely sure of root causes. Everyone has a different theory. Enforcement can only take you so far without addressing the underlying reasons.

If you’re based in TX/CA/AZ/NM, have you felt/seen the impact of the recent illegal immigration?

Based in Los Angles. Not a border town, and there have always been lots of immigrants here, so it's hard to tell what the impact of illegal immigration is, per se. Housing shortage is being felt way more than illegal immigration, imo. There's homeless people everywhere and they mostly seem to be white or black, not hispanic.

3 sats \ 0 replies \ @kr OP 25 Jan

The scope is actually quite severe. Something like 2+ million new entrants in the last few years?

for comparison, Canada (a population of 40 million) is getting 500k immigrants/year now, which is over 1% of the total population. this is happening through “legal” avenues, but seems to be having a big effect on traffic, housing costs, homeless population, etc…

446 sats \ 6 replies \ @Undisciplined 25 Jan

If you were in charge of setting immigration policy and defending America’s border, what would you change?

One of Dave Smith's great insights on the immigration debate is that both open and closed borders are antilibertarian, because both involve the state exerting ownership of the border territory.

Locals need to be able to protect their property against trespassers and prosecute criminal behavior in their jurisdictions.

People should also be able to enter the country if someone has invited them to stay and/or work here.

What is the most likely path towards resolving the increase in illegal immigration in America?

Recession will help temporarily, but I actually do think secession is the most likely resolution.

If you’re based in TX/CA/AZ/NM, have you felt/seen the impact of the recent illegal immigration?

n/a, It's been a long time since I lived in a border state.

398 sats \ 5 replies \ @kr OP 25 Jan

I actually do think a national divorce is the most likely resolution.

how would this work? do you see texas going off on its own with all the other states remaining in the US?

i know there are a bunch of other states siding with texas on the issue of border protection, but i suspect some of those states are too far away from each other to form a new country in the case of a split

379 sats \ 4 replies \ @Undisciplined 25 Jan

I don't know what the exact borders would be, but America is becoming incredibly polarized and issues like this make people feel like sharing a country with the other side is untenable.

There's a pretty large block of states that I believe would leave with Texas. That would certainly include Texas' immediate neighbors and would probably stretch pretty far north and east.

It's possible something like a constitutional convention happens before that, which would radically alter the relationship between DC and the states.

519 sats \ 3 replies \ @kr OP 25 Jan

interesting. i had to look up what constitutional conventions were, sharing a response from ChatGPT in case others following this thread aren’t aware

In the history of the United States, there have been two major constitutional conventions.

Constitutional Convention of 1787: This is the most famous constitutional convention, held in Philadelphia, where the current United States Constitution was drafted. Delegates from the thirteen states convened to address the problems of the weak central government that existed under the Articles of Confederation. The result was the creation of a new constitution, which established a stronger federal government with an intricate system of checks and balances.
Confederate Constitutional Convention of 1861: This lesser-known convention was held by the eleven Southern states that seceded from the Union, leading to the formation of the Confederate States of America. They drafted the Constitution of the Confederate States, which was heavily modeled on the U.S. Constitution but with several key differences, particularly in relation to state sovereignty and the institution of slavery.

306 sats \ 2 replies \ @Undisciplined 25 Jan

It's a pretty drastic measure and a complete crap shoot. Everything's on the table for revision, unlike the precision of an amendment.

The reason I could see it going that route is because DC does not have to be involved. There are nearly enough red states to convene one right now, so if this crisis worsens we may see that happen.

398 sats \ 1 reply \ @kr OP 25 Jan

how many states are required to convene one?

It's a pretty drastic measure and a complete crap shoot. Everything's on the table for revision, unlike the precision of an amendment.

sounds consequential, but perhaps the upside of something this drastic is that it can act as a reset button, similar to the idea of zero-based budgeting in accounting

879 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 25 Jan

A convention requires 2/3's of the states, so 34, but changes would have to be ratified by 3/4 which is 38.

256 sats \ 8 replies \ @RoundaboutStacker 25 Jan

Does Biden and his admin really not care? These are largely Dem voters once they get in, historically speaking.

606 sats \ 6 replies \ @zuspotirko 25 Jan

They're not dem voters since they can't vote at all.

As of legal immigration e.g. cubans, many asians etc have big conservative-leaning demographics as well

624 sats \ 0 replies \ @freetx 25 Jan

They're not dem voters since they can't vote at all.

Presenting an ID to vote isn't 100%

484 sats \ 0 replies \ @gmd 26 Jan

I’m in the Philippines right now, filipinos would be great citizens if we wanted legal immigration. Super hard working, in love with US/western culture, English speaking.

It’s insane that we just let a free for all.

101 sats \ 3 replies \ @kr OP 25 Jan

They're not dem voters since they can't vote at all.

ahh good point. but then that raises another question…

if democrats aren’t welcoming more immigrants to grow their base of voters, what is their motivation for fighting Texas on the control of their border?

491 sats \ 1 reply \ @zuspotirko 25 Jan

if democrats aren’t welcoming more immigrants to grow their base of voters, what is their motivation for fighting Texas on the control of their border?

That's pretty obvious, isn't it?

That's their opinion. Simple as that. They think it's the right thing to do. And for the politicians it appeals to their base. At least their base shares this opinion/conviction/these values and virtues.

5 sats \ 0 replies \ @kr OP 25 Jan

why now though?

why wasn’t this happening under obama or clinton?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @gmd 26 Jan

woke stupidity? same thing happened in europe didnt?

33 sats \ 0 replies \ @kr OP 25 Jan

maybe “doesn’t care” was the wrong phrase, it may actually be advantageous to the democratic party

355 sats \ 2 replies \ @erict875 25 Jan

If I were in charge, I'd negotiate the acquisition of land in a third country to setup a free private city where I would send all illegal immigrants. Win-win-win

(Probably easier said than done, but I'm sure it can happen if there is enough political will)

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @kr OP 25 Jan

which country would you pick?

i assume canada and mexico would be the obvious leading candidates

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @erict875 25 Jan

There is plenty of space in Africa, and the climate is generally favourable. With proper management, the initiative could succeed, and bring significant benefits to the entire continent, providing an alternative and promising path.

305 sats \ 1 reply \ @RepublicansSmellLikeTrumpsDiaper 25 Jan

Nothing will really come of this. Election season and this is posturing, mostly for votes. I hate that politicians use migrants as pawns, but also equally their voting based is being used as pawns in this.

I am only concerned for the migrants who are men women and children and marginalized groups. I think that is where the focus of anyone's attention should be, to ensure no one is suffering and assist those that are.

And before the counter argument that these people are bringing in drugs to the country comes in to play, I will go ahead and let anyone know that I am not concerned about that. These people are pawns from every side, including the narco states of the south. The migrants are as much of your problem as your neighbor with a bad political opinion, which is to say as much as you let it upset you. Take care of the drugs you find, and instead of assuming guilt find a more humanitarian path or we are all entirely fucked as a species.

Ultimately this isn't about migrants at all. It is about political power and the attempt to capture more of it at the cost of anything not in your direct sphere of influence.

The inflow/outflow of borders has a purpose. Sometimes you will need to slow down immigration because you literally cannot sustain more population. Sometimes you let the flood gates open because it provides a huge economic boost. Most of the time you will want at least some, but there is no way you can have rigid static border policy because it is a system who's balance depends on the inputs fed into it. You will collapse your country by going too far in either direction, depending on your economic circumstances at the time.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @kr OP 25 Jan

Nothing will really come of this. Election season and this is posturing, mostly for votes.

this was my base case until i saw the reception to Abbott’s letter yesterday, have you held this view since the illegal immigration problem began?

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @RoundaboutStacker 25 Jan

I didn't get past the word 'illegal'. Seems to be settled.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @kr OP 25 Jan

can you elaborate?