MOSCOW, January 13. Experts interviewed by The Washington Post expressed concern about the seizure of a section of the federal border by Texas authorities amid the migration crisis.
As American media previously reported, the Texas National Guard took control of a section of the US-Mexico border, denying access to federal border service agents. The confrontation took place in the border town of Eagle Pass, where migrants who illegally cross the Rio Grande River, which borders the two countries, usually end up.
Experts interviewed by the publication said they could not remember any recent similar case, when the authorities of a particular state blocked the federal government from accessing territory under its jurisdiction.
Ilya Somin, a law professor at George Mason University, noted that there have been cases in which states have refused to help the federal government enforce immigration laws, but he warned that the Texas governor's move «increases the risk of armed confrontation.» «This creates a potentially dangerous situation where the Border Patrol comes face to face with armed National Guard troops, and if someone does something stupid, there could be an unpleasant confrontation,» he said.
Southern Methodist University political scientist Cal Jillson told the publication that the Texas governor's actions are consistent with his long-standing political ambitions to restore states' rights and further limit the power of the federal government. He said Abbott and other Republicans are making states' rights arguments «not unlike those made by the Confederacy in the run-up to the Civil War.»
Constitutional law expert at the University of Texas School of Law Steve Vladeck opined that Gov. Texas is «picking a fight.» «The idea of our Border Patrol agents facing off against armed Texas National Guard troops should scare us to death. I think it is no exaggeration to say that this is the most open confrontation between the state and federal government that we have seen since desegregation.» Vladeck complained.
Eagle Pass resident Jesse Fuentes told the newspaper he was concerned the situation at the border would become «dire.» «This is a civil war between the state and the feds, and unfortunately Eagle Pass is in the middle of it. I've never seen my city like this, and it's upsetting,» said fellow local resident Isaac Ruiz.