This week, Republican governors across the country escalated their conflict with the Biden administration over the southern border by invoking the same legal theory that slave states wielded to justify secession before the Civil War.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, joined by 25 other GOP governors, now argues that the Biden administration has violated the federal government’s “compact” with the states—an abdication that justifies state usurpation of federal authority at the border.

This language embraces the Confederacy’s conception of the Constitution as a mere compact that states may exit when they feel it has been broken. It’s dangerous rhetoric that transcends partisan grandstanding. And as before, it’s being used to legitimize both nullification and dehumanization.

  • mrcleanup@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    If they really did secede, I think it’s a bit presumptuous to assume you would still have travel rights in the US. Better get out before it happens.

    • Doubletwist@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Like everything else, it’s a risk trade-off calculation. On the one hand, I’d love to leave now, but If we leave before 2029, it could cost us potentially $1-3million in teacher retirement pension. (spread across 20-30+ years as my wife can retire quite early because she started so young)

      So one must balance the risk of Texas really seceding vs the financial cost of leaving early.

      At this stage, while it’s a ‘fun’ (I use that term very loosely) thought experiment, I think the likelihood of Texas actually seceding is pretty low. If at some point it starts to look like it’s actually likely, then we’ll reevaluate if it makes sense to let go of that much money.

    • Mnemnosyne@lemmynsfw.com
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      5 months ago

      I’m vaguely curious, though not enough to go look it up, how issues of citizenship have been handled in other peaceful separations, like that of Czechoslovakia.

      The answer I would find most reasonable, though not necessarily most likely, is to give everyone a certain amount of time to declare which citizenship they choose to retain.

      • Doubletwist@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Per Wikipedia.

        • Czechoslovakia

        On January 1, 1993, all Czechoslovak citizens automatically became citizens either of the Czech Republic or the Slovak Republic, based on their previous citizenship, permanent residence address, birthplace, family ties, job and other criteria. Additionally, people had one year’s time to claim the other citizenship under certain conditions.

        I think things were a LOT uglier in the breakup of Yugoslavia, as well as the partition of India and Pakistan.

        So it could go either way.

        • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Well that’s because Yugoslavia was an administrative hodgepodge of actual countries. Oh wait that’s not good Texas is home to several district cultural and regional identities. Okay but at least it’s not a religious thing right?

          Fuck.