Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced the construction of a new 80-acre Texas National Guard base at Eagle Pass, the notorious southern border city at the center of a contentious feud between the state and Biden administration over federal immigration policy.
- “Before now, the Texas National Guard had been scattered across this entire region in cramped quarters, away from fellow soldiers and sometimes traveling long distances to do their job,” Abbott said during a news conference while flanked by a banner that read “Future Home of the Texas Military Department, Forward Operating Base.”
- The base camp, which Abbott said would “dramatically improve conditions” for soldiers, will have the ability to expand to incorporate up to 2,300 personnel, the governor said.
Context: While many critical of the federal government’s handling of the southern border crisis view the announcement as positive, others believe it is merely the latest round of political theater in the run-up to the 2024 elections.
- Back in January, Abbott faced criticism after it was revealed he was on a trip to India to strengthen “enduring economic and cultural bonds” while publicly defying the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling to take down the razor wire Texas set up along portions of the US border with Mexico
- The trip was seen as a way to promote cheap labor from the subcontinent while ignoring the marked uptick in illegal immigrants of Indian background entering through the border.
- Backed by wealthy Indian American donors, Abbott has, however, singled out migrants from other countries, calling the rise in Chinese illegal immigrants an “extraordinary danger.”
In the headlines: Immigration into the United States, commonly referred to as the “Great Replacement,” has been a constant cause of concern for White Americans. According to the White Papers Policy Institute, 40% of Americans believe changing demographics pose a threat to White Americans and their culture and values.
- Over 40% of Americans were willing to tell the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) that the changing demographics of the United States “pose a threat to White Americans and their culture and values”.
- 63% of young Republican men and 54% of young Democratic men, were willing to admit they viewed the demographic changes in the United States as a deliberate process to replace Whites.
- 61% of young Republican women also shared the same belief.
In the headlines: In Michigan, a House Rep was stripped of his staff, budget, and committee positions after he reposed a meme about the Great Replacement on social media.