Texas Governor Greg Abbott is encouraging Republicans to pass border legislation, seemingly breaking ranks with party leaders Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Abbott met with Johnson on Thursday at the governor's mansion in Austin and, according to Abbott's office, told the Louisiana Republican that the border crisis "is both unacceptable and avoidable." The governor urged the passage of federal legislation to deter illegal crossings between ports of entry.
The governor's words draw a stark contrast with the political maneuvering that has surrounded border legislation and the Republicans' stance. Democrats say that Trump emboldened GOP senators to reject proposed legislation last month so the party can make illegal immigration a major political talking point between now and the November elections. Republican voters in a slew of states have cited immigration as a top issue, even ahead of inflation and the cost of living in some cases.
Newsweek reached out to Abbott's office, Johnson and the Trump campaign via email for comment.
In February, Senate Republicans killed a comprehensive $118 billion immigration package that included $20 billion for U.S.-Mexico border security as well as aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
The bill needed 60 votes to break a Senate filibuster and advance it to the House. But before the Senate's vote, Johnson said the deal was "dead on arrival" in the House, currently led by a razor-thin majority of Republicans.
Republican critics of the bill, co-authored by Republican Senator James Lankford, opposed combining domestic border security with billions of dollars in foreign aid.
They especially focused on a provision saying that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas "shall activate the border emergency authority if, during a period of seven consecutive calendar days, there is an average of 5,000 or more aliens who are encountered each day...or on any one calendar day, a combined total of 8,500 or more aliens are encountered."
On Thursday, Johnson announced intentions to send impeachment articles against Mayorkas to the Senate on April 10 "for high crimes and misdemeanors, including his willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law and his breach of public trust."
The White House has attacked House GOP efforts to impeach Mayorkas as a "shameless, unconstitutional stunt."
Abbott, meanwhile, has touted Operation Lone Star, a statewide venture that started in 2021 and has since deployed thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to the southern border to install razor wire and build a wall in counties bordering Mexico.
Abbott and Texas conservatives continue to await a final court decision on whether the state can enforce a new immigration law separate from federal law. Senate Bill 4 (SB 4), which allows Texas police to arrest people for illegally crossing the Mexico border, was passed last year but has been litigated in the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts.
On Wednesday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied Texas' request to allow SB 4 to go into effect while the court considers its legality.
Sergio Sanchez, a former Texas GOP chairman and a host on radio station KURV, told Newsweek that the border situation puts more pressure on Johnson than Abbott or Trump.
"The House speaker means well, but he is barely hanging on to his seat, literally by a heartbeat," Sanchez said. "Johnson has no hope of Senate support, and the incompetent administrator who created this border fiasco is shuffling around at the White House."
He added: "Abbott needs to stick to his guns and hope the high court will clear SB 4 into the Texas arsenal."
Patricia Crouse, a political science practitioner in residence at the University of New Haven, told Newsweek she believes the Abbott-Johnson meeting was just for show.
"It has already been shown that Republicans have no intention or interest in dealing with the border until after the election," Crouse said. "Trump has made it clear that he wants to use the issue as a campaign issue against Biden, and Republicans have decided to accommodate him.
"I think this could all backfire on the Republicans because Democrats are going to run on, 'We had a bipartisan border deal and Republicans refused to vote on it,'" she said.
Like Sanchez, Crouse agrees that Johnson's weakness as speaker is evident.
"It may be that officials in Texas are well aware of this and know that nothing is getting done before the next election, despite what he says," she said. "I think states like Texas will continue to pass their own legislation, like SB 4, to address immigration issues."
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Nick Mordowanec is a Newsweek reporter based in Michigan. His focus is reporting on Ukraine and Russia, along with social ... Read more
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