Newsweek By Giulia Carbonaro 1/23/2024
Calls for Texas to declare independence from the United States are growing in the Lone Star State after the Supreme Court's decision on Monday siding with the Biden administration over a border barrier dispute.
In a 5 to 4 vote, a majority of the Supreme Court justices allowed federal officials to cut or remove parts of a razor-wire barrier that Texas had erected along the border with Mexico to keep migrants from crossing into its territory. Conservative justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh dissented.
The top court's decision has sparked anger among Texans who support the measures taken by Republican Governor Greg Abbott to fight illegal immigration in the state, which has seen an influx of people crossing the border from Mexico.
Hundreds of posts have appeared since Monday on X, formerly Twitter, under the hashtag "Texit," which refers to Texas' secession from the United States.
Newsweek reached out to the White House and Abbott's office for comment by email on Tuesday morning.
"As a Texan, I wholeheartedly believe that Texas' only viable option moving forward is to vote on #TEXIT," wrote an X user who calls herself a 9th-generation Texian.
"The federal government has all but declared war on Texas. We will not continue to tolerate this blatant usurpation of Texas' sovereignty and Constitutional right to defense," she continued, adding that the state should invoke its right to "alter, abolish, or reform our government as we may feel expedient, as guaranteed in Article 1 Section 2 of the Texas Constitution."
Another X user and resident of the state posted: "Texas has state rights to protect ourselves, its citizens, and our borders when a treasonous federal government tries to use treason to override that. The #TEXIT movement is probably stronger than ever now."
The Texas Nationalist Movement (TNM) issued a statement condemning the Supreme Court's ruling, saying it believes "that the federal government has, once again, failed Texas." The movement is now urging Abbott to "call an immediate special session to explore Texas independence."
More:
https://www.newsweek.com/texas-independence-supreme-court-border-ruling-texit-1863124