Texas, the Indispensable State

March 10, 2022

By Brian Lonergan

Throughout its history there have been several points where America appeared to reach its nadir, only to be saved by the leadership of uncommon, indispensable men. Against all odds, Washington saw his Continental Army and a nascent America through the brutal winter at Valley Forge. With the nation’s future very much in doubt, Lincoln bore the burden and preserved the Union. In October 1962, Kennedy’s resolve prevailed and the world was spared a global nuclear conflict.

It is in this same tradition that, as America faces an existential crisis over the integrity of our sovereign borders, Texas emerges as the uncommon, indispensable state.

While New York, California and others have proven to be modern-day quislings for the anti-borders Left, Texas has been Churchillian. How appropriate that the former independent nation with the big-thinking, maverick spirit is leading the charge in the courts, at the border and in the halls of Congress.

In the courtroom battle, Texas’ victories are piling up. Shortly after Joe Biden was inaugurated, Texas and its Attorney General Ken Paxton won an injunction against the administration’s 100-day ban on most deportations. The Lone Star State has also thwarted the White House’s attempts to end the Trump-era Remain in Mexico asylum policy.

The most recent victory happened last week, when a Texas federal judge ordered the Biden Administration to resume a Trump policy for the removal of unaccompanied alien children who come from countries such as Mexico where COVID is prevalent..

The lawsuit, filed by Paxton with the Immigration Reform Law Institute serving as outside counsel, examined the astronomical cost the Biden White House has foisted upon Texas, in terms of health risk and financial burdens, all to implement a radical agenda the majority of those who live in the state does not support.

A brief submitted by the plaintiffs details some of the costs, namely the health risks to state residents, healthcare expenses for those suffering from COVID-19 and related problems. The most recent estimate of the bill for uncompensated medical care by state public hospital facilities to illegal aliens was in 2008, when Texas incurred a cost of over $718 million. Given the torrent of illegal migration this White House has encouraged, the current numbers will be exponentially higher.   

In his opinion, federal district Judge Mark T. Pittman referenced the “scorched-earth politics” present in the case and seemed incredulous that the matter was in litigation.

“[T]he court is baffled at this proceeding’s adversarial nature,” he wrote. “Why a state and the federal government are litigating this issue — instead of working to solve it — is simply beyond the comprehension of the undersigned.”

Why aren’t Texas and the federal government working together on this? It’s a good question. The answer is simply that those currently in charge of the federal government are trying to impose a radical, unworkable policy that will bring financial ruin to the states. More left-leaning states will obediently assume the massive losses, at great suffering to their residents, and hope for a bloated federal bailout in the future. Texas, standing apart from the herd, has chosen to fight.

Further agitating the Biden White House has been Texas Governor Greg Abbott. After witnessing the waste and damage cause by Biden’s abandonment of the already purchased border wall project, Abbott has cobbled together the resources to resume construction of the wall where needed in his state. So chagrined was the federal government by Abbott’s actions that it donated over $6 million worth of idle wall components to the Texas project.  

The Texas defiance of the anti-borders movement has encouraged others to join the fight. In January Paxton hosted a summit of 12 other state attorneys general to see the crisis at the Texas border first-hand and strategize against the Biden immigration agenda.

With just under three years remaining in the Biden administration’s term, the fight over America’s borders and immigration policy will remain hot. If our nation survives this calamitous time and restores the stability it once had, we will owe Texas a debt of gratitude for leading the charge.  

Brian Lonergan is director of communications at the Immigration Reform Law Institute, a public interest law firm working to defend the rights and interests of the American people from the negative effects of mass migration.

Also published at: Brian Lonergan, Texas, the Indispensable State, American Greatness, March 10, 2022.