Texas Could Regret Joining United States, Republican Suggests

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has said the Lone Star State wouldn't have joined the American Union had Texans known about "the federal government not protecting our border" from irregular migration.

The series of remarks from Paxton, a Republican, were branded dangerous and vengeful by a progressive campaign group. They were made during his interviews with local or conservative-leaning radio shows and podcasts: The Joe Pags Show, DFW Morning News and The Truth With Lisa Boothe. Newsweek reached out to the office of Ken Paxton on Saturday morning by telephone and online contact form. This article will be updated if the Texas attorney general wishes to comment.

Tensions between Texan authorities and the Biden administration surged on January 22 when the Supreme Court ruled federal agents could remove razor-wire placed along the Texas-Mexico border on the orders of Governor Greg Abbott. In response, the Republican said Texas was being subject to an "invasion" and invoked "Texas's constitutional authority to defend and protect itself." Donald Trump, by some margin the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, said other GOP-controlled states should send National Guard troops to Texas to support Abbott's work.

In response to Paxton's comments, Philip Shulman, a spokesperson for progressive super PAC American Bridge 21st Century, told Newsweek: "Abuse of office, election conspiracies, and now talk of secession—Ken Paxton is a dangerous manipulator of the law who is more focused on his personal and vengeful politics than he is on defending Texans."

Appearing on The Joe Pags Show on January 27, Paxton said there is "no way that Texas agrees to come into the union under this premise that the federal law preempts your ability to protect yourself."

Paxton made similar remarks three days later on DFW Morning News: "I can't imagine when Texas joined the union, they said, well, maybe someday we'd be OK with the federal government not protecting our border, not defending us.

"And if we have incursions across into our state, if they don't do anything, we're OK with letting whatever happens happen. I cannot imagine that any state would have joined the union under that premise," Paxton added.

Paxton reiterated this point on February 2 during an appearance on the podcast of Fox News commentator Lisa Boothe, during which he said: "I cannot imagine any of these states joining a union, including Texas, if you had told them that the federal government wasn't going to defend the border and that they had to just sit on their hands, and it would be illegal and a violation of some court order to protect your own citizens. No one would have joined."

Texas existed as an independent state between 1836, after successfully breaking away from Mexico, and 1845, when it was annexed into the United States. It ceded from the U.S. in 1861 to join the pro-slavery Confederate States of America, before being reintegrated at the end of the American Civil War.

A survey of 814 eligible voters in Texas conducted for Newsweek by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, from February 1 to 3, found 44 percent were either "more likely" or "significantly more likely" to back Texan independence due to the situation on the southern border. Another 35 percent said this made no difference, while 16 percent replied it made them less likely to support secession from the U.S.