Texas’s border battle with the Biden administration is apparently not going to end anytime soon, at least according to its governor.
Speaking at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, Governor Greg Abbott bragged about the contentious back-and-forth he had with federal border agents earlier this year. That spat ended with the Supreme Court siding in favor of the Biden administration. In a 5–4 decision, the high court ruled that Texas had overstepped its authority by placing razor wire along the Rio Grande section of the U.S.-Mexico border. It also gave the green light to the federal government to snip and move sections of the wire that had prevented federal border agents from doing their job.
But all of that was in the rearview mirror for Abbott, who insisted Wednesday that not only had he brought the “border crisis” to President Joe Biden but that the job was far from over.
“We have continued busing migrants to sanctuary cities all across the country,” Abbott said, accusing the undocumented immigrants of being “rapists,” “murderers,” and “terrorists” while attendees waved signs calling for “mass deportations now.”
“Those buses will continue to roll until we finally secure our border,” he added.
Before the Supreme Court ruling, Abbott’s signature Operation Lone Star had bused more than 100,000 migrants from Texas detention centers to cities across the country. That included sending more than 37,000 undocumented people to New York, 30,000 people to Chicago, and 12,500 people to Washington, D.C., according to the governor’s office.
But continuing the highly controversial and extraordinarily cruel program could prove to be legally dubious, economically unsound, and possibly ineffective. In a May report, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas found that the state had spent $11 billion on increased border security funding, including the busing program, with the intent to “detect and repel illegal crossings, arrest human smugglers and cartel gang members, and stop the flow of deadly drugs like fentanyl.”
But the massive expenditure doesn’t seem to have paid off. The majority (43 percent) of those caught and arrested were charged with misdemeanors, while less than 3 percent of the individuals arrested actually went before a judge for drug offenses. Even fewer (2 percent) went to court on weapons charges.
“Texas has no business trying to run its own immigration enforcement program,” Sarah Cruz, policy and advocacy strategist for border and immigrants’ rights at the ACLU of Texas, told Texas Public Radio at the time. “Governor Abbott and other state politicians conflating immigration with drugs and crime is as false as it is inflammatory and dangerous to our communities.”
To top it off, some political operatives have accused Abbott—and Governor Ron DeSantis, who operated a similar program in Florida—of engaging in human trafficking, while legal experts have roundly criticized the program as unconstitutional.
Four Republican senators went ballistic as they chased Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle out of the Republican National Convention, demanding her resignation if she would not answer their questions about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
Senators John Barrasso, Marsha Blackburn, James Lankford, and Kevin Cramer surrounded Cheatle in a suite at the convention Wednesday night. Blackburn posted a video of their furious encounter on X, which Fox News was able to caption.
Barrasso, a Republican from Wyoming, said he was “very disappointed” after a dual congressional phone briefing earlier that day, during which Cheatle had failed to address all of his questions about the shooting at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. “Every one of us have questions that we wanted to ask, we felt we didn’t get any of the responses that were necessary from you,” Barrasso said.
Cheatle reportedly acknowledged that there had been “mistakes and gaffes” that allowed for the attempted assassin to get his shot at the former president, one person familiar with the briefing told Politico. But, it appeared that her responses earlier Wednesday had not satisfied the concerns of these senators.
Barrasso insisted that Cheatle had allowed Trump to take the stage after the Secret Service had already identified the possible threat. “Very disappointed in your leadership,” Barrasso continued, saying that he blamed Cheatle for putting the former president “within less than an inch of his life.”
“So, resignation, or full explanation to us right now,” he said.
Blackburn echoed Barrasso’s demands for answers. “Can you give us an explanation? Why would anyone allow the president to go on stage when you know you’ve got a potential threat and you’ve got snipers that are trained on him?” she asked.
“I don’t think that this is the forum to have this discussion,” Cheatle said, invoking cries of outrage from both senators.
“Oh, yes ma’am, it is the forum!” Blackburn retorted.
“But wait, you hung up on us!” Barrasso cried.
“Let me just say the hospitality suite is actually to thank the partners who have helped secure the Republican National Convention. I would not want to take away from their evening,” Cheatle said. “I am happy to answer questions, we will do it in the appropriate forum.”
Still, Blackburn insisted, “This is appropriate!”
“I’m going to leave because I want these people to be able to enjoy their evening,” Cheatle said.
As she began to walk out of the suite, Barrasso and Blackburn insisted on following her out. “No, no, no, we’re going with you,” they said.
As the group made its way quickly through the........