S4E4: Who can control our border with Mexico? Texas or D.C.?

History Behind News Program

In a brief order this week, the US Supreme Court restored federal government access to and control of the border.

In response to the Supreme Court's order, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said this: “I will continue to defend Texas’ constitutional authority to secure the border”.

So here is my question: does the Constitution give Governor Abbot, or any state governor for that matter, the authority to control our country's international borders?

To better understand the history of the tension between US states and our federal government when it comes to immigration, which is a highly polarizing issue now, I spoke with Mr. Gulasekaram, who at the time of this recording, was a Professor of Law at the Santa Clara University School of Law, where he taught Constitutional Law and Immigration Law. He now teaches at the University of Colorado, Boulder law school: https://lawweb.colorado.edu/profiles/profile.jsp?id=1126

Prof. Gulasekaram is co-author of the leading immigration law casebook used in law schools, Immigration & Citizenship: Process and Policy. And he is also co-author of The New Immigration Federalism - a book that provides an in-depth empirical and theoretical analysis of the resurgence of state and local immigration lawmaking, which is the subject of our conversation in this episode.

Prof. Gulasekaram is also the co-founder of the ⁠World Children’s Initiative⁠, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving health and educational infrastructure for children in developing areas around the world.

You may also be interested in an earlier episode, in which, my guest, Prof. Jennifer Chacon, answers this question: do immigrants commit more crime than native-born Americans? Listen here: ⁠https://bit.ly/HbN-S3E18⁠

I hope you enjoy these episodes.

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1. Image: Construction of a floating barrier in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass as part of Texas's Operation Lone Star. The image was taken by a USBP drone. Public Domain.
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