Greg Abbott and the Battle for the Texas Border
Slate News
Slate Podcasts
4.5 • 6K Ratings
🗓️ 20 January 2024
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The immigration fight on the U.S. - Mexico border keeps getting uglier - not between the U.S. and its southern neighbor, Mexico, but between the federal government and a Texas administration apparently unconcerned by constitutional supremacy. Earlier this month, members of the Texas Military Forces took over a public park in Eagle Pass, TX at the behest of Gov. Greg Abbott. The park, on the banks of the Rio Grande, is near a frequently used border crossing. Last weekend, Texas forces blocked Federal Border Patrol agents from reaching a woman and two children who had drowned trying to cross the river into the United States.
The move by Abbott is certainly shocking, but it’s an example of ways the state is trying to intervene in federal police powers and responsibilities. In a series of increasingly urgent filings, the Justice Department is pleading with the Supreme Court to intervene to let Federal agents enforce Federal laws.
Rochelle Garza, president of the Texas Civil Rights Project, joins the show to discuss how the cruelty of Abbott’s approach is undermining Texas communities and creating a constitutional crisis that may originate in Texas, but will not remain there.
Dahlia is joined by SCOTUS-whispering wingman Mark Joseph Stern in today’s Slate Plus segment to discuss why the High Court’s response to Texas’ game of chicken with the Feds is so dangerously sluggish. Next, they explore the oral arguments in the big Chevron-overturning vehicle that is Loper Bright, a case that was supposed to be about fishermen but is actually about overturning tens of thousands of agency law decisions and grabbing power from the elected branches and handing it to the judiciary.
Sign up for Slate Plus now to listen and support our show.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | First the bad news, SAP, business AI won't help you generate cubist versions of your family's holiday photos. |
| 0:08.0 | But it will help you understand which supplier is best to help you roll out your plant-based |
| 0:14.0 | packaging in Southeast Asia, identify the training your junior project manager needs |
| 0:18.6 | to rise up the ranks, and automate repetitive tasks while you focus on big innovations |
| 0:25.0 | so you can be ready for the next opportunity. |
| 0:28.0 | Revolutionary technology, real world results, that's SAP business AI. |
| 0:39.0 | I signed a law making it illegal for somebody to enter Texas from another country. |
| 0:45.0 | And so, and they're subject to arrest and subject to deportation. |
| 0:51.0 | If Greg Abbott is allowed to do what he's doing in terms of enforcing his own |
| 0:56.4 | version of immigration law, it doesn't stop there. |
| 1:01.3 | Hi and welcome back to Amicus, this is Slate's podcast about the courts and the |
| 1:07.6 | law and the Supreme Court and the rule of law and I am Dahlia Lythwick, that's my beat at the magazine and this week the high court heard arguments in Loper Bright |
| 1:17.2 | That's the deregulatory bombshell case. We previewed on last week's show with Professor Ben Johnson. |
| 1:24.0 | In the intervening time, the New York Times dropped some new reporting |
| 1:28.0 | about how the quote unquote public interest law firm, |
| 1:32.0 | cause of action, the firm that discloses no donors and reports |
| 1:35.5 | having no employees, that Brot Loperbright is of course a front group for Koch Industries, |
| 1:42.4 | Koch Industries being the champion for deregulation that sometimes |
| 1:46.8 | includes Clarence Thomas himself at their secret conferences, bought and paid for every single time. |
| 1:54.7 | E. Jean Carroll's second civil defamation suit against former President Donald Trump |
| 1:59.8 | kicked off in New York this week as the former president continued to defame her on |
| 2:04.8 | truth social even somehow from inside the courtroom. Every single thing we have |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate Podcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Slate Podcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.