America's Talking - Americans Say States Should Have a Say in Border Security Efforts

Episode Date: March 29, 2024

(The Center Square) – Americans want states to have a role in stopping the flood of illegal immigration, which comes as the federal government and Texas grapple over who has the right to secure the southern border amidst the ongoing crisis there. According to the survey, 29% said border states, 29% said the federal government, and 37% said a combination of both should have the final say on immigration policy. The rest are unsure. This new poll comes as the Biden administration and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott are embroiled in a legal battle over what Abbott says is the state's right to defend itself from an invasion. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/america-in-focus/support Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Greetings and welcome to America in Focus powered by the Center Square. I'm Dan McAulb, Chief Content Officer at the Franklin News Foundation, publisher of the Center Square Newswire Service. We are recording this on Friday, March 29th. Republican U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday sent a letter to Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, demanding he hold a full impeachment trial for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, citing the ongoing border crisis with tens of thousands of pounds of illegal narcotics flowing into the U.S. from Mexico, and millions of people illegally crossing the border since President Joe Biden took office, the House narrowly voted last month

to impeach Mayorkas, the first sitting cabinet member in U.S. history, to be impeached. The impeachment came as the state of Texas' ongoing legal battle with the federal government over border security measures has kicked into high gear, and the latest Center Square Voter's voice poll shows who American side with in that dispute. Joining to me to discuss all things border related is Casey Harper, the CenterSquare's Washington, D.C. Bureau Chief. Casey, let's start with Johnson's letter to Schumer. You reported on it at the CenterSquare.com. What can you tell our listeners? Yeah, so I mean, this is the next big development in the border crisis, in Mayorkas and impeachment, of course. So Johnson sent this letter to Schumer. Chuck Schumer, said a majority leader, and he said April 10th,

We're going to deliver officially these articles of impeachment, and he's demanding that the Senate hold a full trial, which I think is unlikely, but he's putting the ball in Johnson's court. He went through the border crisis, how bad things have gotten. And he made this key argument, which has been a refrain for Republicans, and that is that the laws are already on the books for the Biden administration to stop the immigration crisis tomorrow if they wanted to. but they don't want to and they are willfully not enforcing them. That's been a regular argument of Republicans. That argument was really the center of this debate over another of the Senate border bill when Senate Democrats got a few border provisions in the Ukraine funding and Israel funding and tried to call it a border bill.

And the Republican opponents who ultimately killed the bill said, we don't really need more funding or more random expansion of DHS powers. the laws are already on the books to stop immigration. They're just not being enforced actively by this president. There hasn't been Trump was able to keep, the example would be former president, Donald Trump was able to keep immigration much lower with the exact same laws that we have today. Right. And they didn't, you know, it's not like Trump had different set of laws than Biden has.

So that's really the heart of this argument. And it's what they used to kill Democrats' push for the Senate border bill. And so, you know, Johnson's letter goes through, saying that Majorcas is responsible for these millions of illegal immigrants. He called his actions unlawful. They're responsible, quote, responsible for the historic crisis that is devastated communities throughout our country from the smallest border town in Texas to New York City, end quote. And so, you know, of course, that's a reference to, as we know, the overwhelmed border communities, which are seeing a surge of fentanyl. But also many of these large sanctuary cities, which once proudly touted their pro-immigration states,

status are walking that back, are struggling to deal with the influx of migrants. Because, Dan, I know you know this, but many of these migrants who initially come into Texas, they don't stop there. They're headed for very large cities like Chicago, in particular New York City, others like Miami as well. And these big cities are just, they're being overwhelmed by some of these migrants and grappling with it and pushing back and calling on Biden to do something. And so that's where the, That's the backdrop of this is happening. Will there actually be an impeachment? I think I don't think that that trial will really go anywhere, but it does put more pressure

on Democrats in an election year where the border has become a defining issue. And we know that, Casey, from exit polls during the primaries from the Center Square's own voter's voice poll that dropped earlier this month, we wrote that the top two issues by far for voters in the Center Square voters' voice poll was the, the border crisis and inflation and all things economy in the United States. Let's talk about the Center Square Voters voice poll a little bit, Casey, as it relates to the border. We asked more than 2,500 registered voters in the country, who do they side with or who should have the final say on border security matters? Border states, states like Texas, which is involved

in this ongoing legal dispute with the federal government over border security measures or the federal government itself. You reported on the results of that poll, Casey, tolerators. That's right. This question gets at the heart of a constitutional crisis between the federal government and the states around this very issue, the border, which has become so controversial, so dangerous. So according to the survey, when these voters were asked to pick, who should have a say in securing the border? 29% said the border states. 29% said the federal government. And 37% said a combination of both should have the final say on immigration policy, which is kind of amazing because the status quo for a long time has been, well, of course,

the federal government. It's their role constitutionally. It's their responsibility to protect us from invasion and secure the border. But because the federal government, I think, has done such a poor job in the minds of Americans, they've lost the trust of Americans. And we see on the news that the states in particular, you know, Texas is being the most proactive in securing the border in addressing the crisis, which has led to pushback from the Biden administration, as we know. So, you know, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has been leading the charge on a lot of this, but Texas installed these floating barriers in the Rio Grande River. And to keep people from swimming across as easily, they put up a lot of razor wire, you know, to deter people from

trying to come across and they actually passed a law allowing Texas police officers to arrest illegal immigrants because Border Patrol, Federal Border Patrol often just releases them back into the country or we also know there's millions of migrants who get in, get past Border Patrol, border patrol without being captured. And so this is kind of what Texas has been doing, but the Biden administration has sued Texas every time to stop them from doing that. They basically had a minor victory in the razor wire case where they were allowed, they're now allowed to take down the razor wire. The Supreme Court ruled that the police officer issue is being challenged and we'll see

how that, you know, finally shakes out in the courts. And so, you know, you have this conflict of the Biden administration says it wants to stop this problem, but Texas says, well, why don't you welcome our help? You know, the voters, the likely voters are weighing in and saying, hey, Texas should be able to help to fix this problem. So I do want to make one thing clear. Border Patrol agents are essentially acting on the Biden administration's orders. We know from the Border Patrol Union that they're very frustrated with what's been going on

with border policy in the United States. They disagree with the Secretary of Mayorkas and President Biden's policies at the border. They want to be doing their jobs, apprehending and, expelling illegal immigrants across the country, but they've got to follow orders, and their orders to come from above, and that's what prompted Governor Abbott in Texas to launch the state's own border security measures. Given the poll Casey, there's no doubt that the border crisis is top of mind for American voters. What is that going to mean briefly in the time that we have left for November's election between President Biden and former President Donald Trump, who

made border security one of his top campaign issues. Right. I mean, it's definitely bad news for Biden. I don't know that it will be a fatal, fatal blow to him. But whenever you're the incumbent, first off, and there's a crisis, you're going to get the blame for. I mean, he's been in office almost, in November, it will be almost, you know, four years when voters go to the polls.

And so if there's a crisis that's been going on for years, they're going to blame him. And so he's going to take the responsibility for the border crisis, whether he wants to or not. And then what it's going to do is make this issue about immigration or this election year about immigration, which is exactly what Trump wants it to be about. It's a defining issue for him. He's very good on it. Voters trust Republicans more on immigration and they really like see Trump is tough on immigration. And so if your main issue as a candidate since 2016 has been immigration is a big problem and I'm going to fix it, whether it's the wall or whatever else. And then you come into an election year where immigration is the main problem. I mean, it's a really good. environment for Trump. And so, you know, it's still a little ways till November. Things can change. Other issues can arise. But it sets a good stage for those in the Trump camp right now. And it's a big issue to wrestle with for the Biden team. Casey, thank you for joining us today. Listeners can keep up with this story and more at thecenter square.com.