‘Texican’ Standoff Stopped Migrants in Their Tracks; Now It’s Washington’s Move

As untold thousands of illegal aliens crossed America’s southern border unabated last week, migrant parties attempting to enter near Brownsville ran up against a mobile Maginot Line of Texas troopers.

Upon wading into the Rio Grande from Matamoros, some 50 migrants were hailed in scripted Spanish: “Stop! Stop right now!” “This is dangerous.” “You are putting your boys and girls at risk.” “Turn around now.” When migrants moved upriver to seek an opening, the Texas contingent tracked and blocked them. None were let in.

While the overall invasion continues elsewhere along the Lone Star State’s 1,250-mile-long border with Mexico, Gov. Greg Abbott has pledged to deploy additional “tactical units” to other hotspots. More troops are being airlifted to the border, equipped with aircraft, boats, night vision, miles of concertina wire and riot gear.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who is blatantly violating his own statutory obligations to secure the border and prevent illegal entry, suggested the Texas operation was illegal. But in the meantime, Texas troopers are working to ensure that, at least, the southern tip of the border is, to use Mayorkas’ words, “not open.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been spoiling for a legal fight with the Biden administration over its border malfeasance. He told state lawmakers in March that, given the Biden administration’s refusal to enforce the border, Texas should challenge the landmark 2012 case in Arizona in which the U.S. Supreme Court found that certain provisions of a state law impermissibly intruded on federal authority. “We should test to see if the states can protect themselves, given the circumstances we’re in that we’ve never been in before,” he said.

Earlier this month, in anticipation of Washington lifting the Title 42 public health order that had enabled immediate expulsion of some illegal aliens, Texas resumed detailed safety inspections of all commercial vehicles coming from Mexico through Brownsville. By slowing commercial traffic, the move is intended to incentivize Mexican authorities to step up security on their side of the border.

Days later, Cameron County issued its first border emergency declaration. This makes Brownsville, the county seat, eligible for additional law-enforcement resources from the state, as well as the ability to enhance penalties on migrants who break local or state laws.

In his report on the “Texican” Standoff at Brownsville, Todd Bensman wrote in the New York Post: “The whole ecosystem of what was going on had changed, and with it, possibly how the post-Title 42 face of border security will look like going forward, at least in its primary epicenter of Texas.”

Time will tell which direction events go from here.