With a burst of unforeseen energy, the Oval Office’s latest occupant is in a scribbling frenzy, pushing through Executive Orders to level the transgender playing field in school sports, forcing a new independence on foreign oil, and erasing any trace of former President Donald Trump. On his merry way to uniting a fractured electorate by ceasing all manner of deportations on the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton said No tan rápida – or “not so fast” El Jefe.
Perhaps sensing a flood of immigrants hoping to cross into a more welcoming country under President Biden, Texas State Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the new administration to halt the executive missive citing the massive negative fiscal impact it would place on the state. Judge Tipton agreed and set a 14 -day hold on the order.
In justice speak:
“Defendants and all their respective officers, agents, servants, employees, attorneys, and other persons who are in active concert or participation with them are hereby ENJOINED and RESTRAINED from enforcing and implementing the policies described in the January 20 Memorandum in Section C entitled ‘Immediate 100-Day Pause on Removals.’”
Texans Fight E.O. Frenzy With Facts
Facts and figures to swirl the brain of an everyday citizen can be found on the FAIR’s website – a non-partisan immigration organization. FAIR reports in 2017, “the total cost of illegal immigration for the United States – at the federal, state, and local levels – was approximately $116 billion.”
According to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, illegal aliens cost the American taxpayers hundreds of billion over a lifetime. Yet, the cost of deportation is around $11,000. Those numbers were published in 2016, but as a rule of thumb, they only trend upward. The Academies also argue that state and local governments bear the brunt of the impact – not so much the federal.
“Projected over a future time horizon of 75 years, this analysis found that the fiscal impacts of immigrants are generally positive at the federal level and generally negative at the state and local level. State and local governments bear the burden of providing education benefits to children, including those in immigrant households, but their methods of taxation recoup relatively little of the later contributions from the resulting educated taxpayers.”
Is it any wonder Paxton was quick to pounce? Texas wasn’t about to say “yes” to a Biden immigration mandate with border communities stretched beyond fiscal capacity. Paxton cited the stiff fees it already pays for illegal immigrants, and explains that “a near-complete suspension of deportations would only serve to endanger Texans and undermine federal law.” That was enough to sway Tipton:
“First, Texas demonstrates that it pays millions of dollars annually to provide social services and uncompensated healthcare expenses and other state-provided benefits to illegal aliens such as the Emergency Medicaid program, the Family Violence Program, and the Texas Children’s Health Insurance Program.”
Tipton added another 14-day hold on the E.O., if required, as emphasis.
Unity
Mr. Biden promises to be a president for all Americans. But by trying to unite a nation with a deep ideological chasm by issuing Executive Orders for what he feels were illegitimate actions – by E.O. from the previous president – is only going to get him so far. If the Biden plan is to bring peace, love, and harmony back to the electorate, he may want to slow down on dictatorial edicts. Perhaps Mr. Biden should act presidential and concentrate further on passing immigration reform legitimately by the legislative process – unless Congress is still too wrapped up in the past to work towards the future.
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Read more from Sarah Cowgill.
