Statement on the standoff between Texas and the Federal Government.
The standoff between Abbott and the federal government, as well as Biden’s capitulation to supporting violent, reactionary border policy, is a great example of the progression of far-right policy and rhetoric in America.
First, support for a certain cause, in this example harsher immigration policy, is rallied by far-right media figures, fascists, and militia groups like Patriots for America, and far-right politicians like Don Huffines that pressure more establishment Republicans to adopt more reactionary policies.
Then, Republicans like Abbott take an extreme position and challenge the Democrats to rally support from their base and question the legitimacy of Democrats, especially during periods of controversy or election years.
Lastly, establishment Democrats give in to their demands to “maintain order” and appeal to centrist voters. This is often called the ratchet effect, although the metaphor of the ratchet ignores the role of fringe elements of the right to galvanize conservatives. As a result, our role as those opposed to these policies is to oppose every step of this process, especially the more grassroots and weaker fascist groups that initialize the narrative. The problem isn’t Abbott or Biden, it’s the entire electoral system.
No matter who is in power, they’d make similar concessions to the far-right. That’s the cost of maintaining power. Only by working to undermine the state and the capitalist, colonialist, patriarchal system that underpins it can we meaningfully oppose this.
Of course, the issue of immigration and border enforcement predates this specific standoff. Borders are essential to the maintenance of the white supremacist settler colonial state we live in. They legitimize and define the settler colonial project, divide indigenous communities along the border, maintain a population of acceptable “citizens” to dominate the state’s demographics and create a perpetual underclass of largely indigenous undocumented immigrants whose labor can be exploited and who can be scapegoated.
Borders will always perpetuate exploitation. We must always oppose borders, the state that enforces them, and the economy that profits off of them. From Palestine to Texas, no borders, no walls, and no compromise with settler colonial systems.