The president’s recent pledge to “shut down” the border suggests that, if nothing else could, his political survival might finally motivate him to enforce the law.
Immigration was already bound to be a pivotal issue in this year’s elections. The standoff between Texas and the federal government, however, emphasizes just how egregious the problem has become—and highlights an especially glaring vulnerability for President Biden in November.
Here’s a recap of the escalating standoff. Last week, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the Supreme Court’s liberal minority in a 5-4 ruling that allows U.S. Border Patrol agents to dismantle razor wire along the river in Eagle Pass, Texas, which the state had built to prevent illegal border crossings. The federal government claimed that the razor wire prevented Border Patrol from aiding migrants in distress, including three who recently drowned. Texas governor Greg Abbott responded that Border Patrol was never denied access and blamed the Biden administration for the migrant deaths. Abbott has said that he will continue defending the state’s border despite the Court’s ruling.
Smith, 58, was put to death Thursday in a ‘horrific’ 22-minute ordeal when a gas mask was placed over his face, before a stream of 100 percent nitrogen gas suffocated him inside the execution chamber at the William C. Holman prison in Atmore, Alabama.