Meanwhile, in Texas

[temporal1]

I haven’t noticed any government shutdowns, and immigration offices remain open, as do legal ports of entry.

I do know the Republicans have asked Biden to enforce existing border laws in exchange for funding for Ukraine. For whatever reason Biden doesn’t want to do that. I guess he’d rather see Ukraine get steamrolled by the Russians than have a safe, secure U.S. border.

All of this is a long-long way away from (my opinion) that U.S. borders and ALL TYPES immigration “should be” running as dependably+efficiently as Swiss trains. There’s no VALID excuse for this. We’ve all been bamboozled by self-serving manipulators. For DECADES. We’ve allowed it.

There MAY be a significant change on the horizon, as city dwellers begin to realize, Texas and other border states are THEIR border states, too. From what i gather just north of me in Chicago, city folks are LIVID about what they’re now experiencing - which is what Texas and others have been experiencing all along. It’s clear they didn’t realize Texas was THEIR border, too.

We’ll see if this makes a material difference. A lot of people are really steamed. i’m sorry it came to that.
Refusal to address problems as they arise often goes like this. The dam bursts.

[Ken]

I haven’t noticed any government shutdowns, and immigration offices remain open, as do legal ports of entry.

I do know the Republicans have asked Biden to enforce existing border laws in exchange for funding for Ukraine. For whatever reason Biden doesn’t want to do that. I guess he’d rather see Ukraine get steamrolled by the Russians than have a safe, secure U.S. border.

You are missing the point.

The reason there aren't government shut downs is because Congress made a deal to temporarily roll over the 2023 budget numbers into 2024. Which means that no individual spending bills have been passed that could individually increase spending for border security. In fact these budget deals decrease immigration funding because everything to do with running an agency increases in cost over time so stabile funding represents a cut in real numbers. Just like if your income remains stable during a time of inflation you actually lose spending power.

What you are talking about are the supplemental requests for additional dollars for border security, Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. Those are requests that Biden made that haven't gotten through Congress. Whether they will reach a deal and pass them, who knows.

But finally you are wrong. Republicans haven't asked Biden to enforce existing border laws. What is happening is that there are Republican proposals to tighten up immigration laws, some in quite draconian fashion. But that is a current discussion in the Senate between the Democratic majority and Republican minority, not between Biden and congressional Republicans. Will the Senate reach some bipartisan agreement on revisions to immigration laws and cut some deal to put all that stuff together in a package? Who knows. I have my doubts because at this point it looks like Republicans would rather just demagogue immigration leading into the 2024 election that do anything about it. They have actually admitted this in public. So I'm not hopeful that Republicans are all serious about reforming immigration. I'm frankly doubtful that either party is really that serious. But it is Republicans who see the most political gain from leaving things as they are and screaming about it.

[GaryK]

Because your Congress is dysfunctional.

For example, since the GOP took over the House in 2022 they haven't passed a single individual spending bill which is where you would actually allocate NEW money towards specific things like immigration enforcement. All they have done is go from one self-inflicted made-up crisis over the debt ceiling to another self-inflicted made-up crisis over the budget. Which ends up in some sort of continuing resolution that rolls over the previous year's spending unchanged.

It appears you would be wrong on your assertion that they haven't passed a single individual spending bill.

The House has passed seven of the dozen full-year funding bills, clearing partisan fiscal 2024 spending plans for the Pentagon, departments of Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs, State, and a host of other agencies in recent months.

https://thehill.com/business/budget/431 ... ing-bills/

OK I stand corrected. As of December they hadn't gotten any of them done.

Not to be picky but the article I referenced was written November 23, 2023.

[Robert]

https://x.com/GregAbbott_TX/status/1750235544951349275

[Robert]

[ken_sylvania]

How does he figure that installing razor wire constitutes defiance of SCOTUS? I had heard that the ruling said nothing about what Texas may or may not do.

[ken_sylvania]

https://x.com/GregAbbott_TX/status/1750235544951349275

I have to admit some sympathy with anyone who argues that if 9 million unauthorized immigrants doesn't constitute an invasion, then Jan 6th wasn't an insurrection. And to be clear, this is not an approval of Jan 6th.

[ken_sylvania]

It appears you would be wrong on your assertion that they haven't passed a single individual spending bill.



https://thehill.com/business/budget/431 ... ing-bills/

OK I stand corrected. As of December they hadn't gotten any of them done.

Not to be picky but the article I referenced was written November 23, 2023.

Come on! You're a southerner, no? You should know better than to let the facts get in the way of a good story.

[Robert]

Florida and Virginina governors are supporting Abbott.

And now Oklahoma.

[temporal1]

.. There MAY be a significant change on the horizon, ..