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The escalation of the dispute between the state of Texas and the federal government, over immigrants and border management, led to escalating fears of the outbreak of civil war and the secession of Texas from the United States of America, which sparked the interaction of tweeters on social networking sites.

Texas is located in the southwestern United States. It is the second largest state in area after Alaska, and in population after California. It is nicknamed the “Lone Star” state, to indicate its previous status as an independent republic, and its flag and emblem include a single star.

Texas was part of Mexico during the period from 1821 to 1836, when it declared its independence, and was recognized by the United States itself, and European countries such as Britain and France, until it joined the United States in 1845.

Today, Texas is a major center for the energy industry, and home to a number of major companies, such as ExxonMobil, AT&T, and Dell.

The dispute erupted between the local government of Texas and the federal government due to the migrant crisis and border security measures, as the US Supreme Court ruled last Monday to temporarily suspend a decision issued by a federal appeals court last December.

The Court of Appeals decision ordered federal Border Patrol agents to stop cutting the barbed wire installed by the State of Texas, to prevent irregular immigrants from crossing the border and entering the United States.

The Supreme Court based its decision to stop the Court of Appeal’s decision on the fact that control of the country’s borders is a federal issue.

Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott said his state was facing an “invasion,” and he challenged the court’s decision and tweeted on the X platform, saying: “Texas will continue to exercise its constitutional right to protect and defend our southern border.”

Republican support for Abbott was not long in coming, as they confirmed in a joint statement last Thursday that Republican governors from 25 states (half of the 50 states) pledged to provide support to the Texas governor and the state’s constitutional authority to defend itself.

Real or artificial crisis?

The Shabakat program monitored some of the tweeters' comments on the Texas governor's challenge to the federal government, including Taha's tweet, "We support Texas in the right to self-determination and we call on America to respect the wishes of the peoples."

While Bin Ateq wrote, “America, as large as it is, consists of Texas, a very strong state, and if this happens and the regimes of the rest of the states are in effect, I consider it the end of America in its current form, and I have said for a long time that America is on the verge of civil war.”

As for Ahmed, he believes that “this is news for populist consumption. The state is putting pressure on the federal government for political gains for certain people and nothing more. Secession will only happen in the event of real economic crises and the situation is currently stable.”

Noura Muhammad Al-Abdullah commented, “Texas does not want immigrants to enter. I think that the state of Texas in particular was the home of the Native Americans, and the Native Americans were nothing but immigrants.”

While an account bearing the name Free Libya demanded “not to exaggerate the issue too much” and added, “The whole issue is a political dispute between the Republicans led by (Donald) Trump and the Democratic (Joe) Biden administration and nothing more.”

In response to the Texas Governor's escalation, US President Joe Biden published a statement on the "X" platform, in which he said that his administration had begun negotiations with members of the Senate from both the Republican and Democratic parties, in order to seriously address the problem.

He continued that the draft agreement on security measures on the southern border, if approved, would give the president new emergency authority to close the border when it becomes crowded with migrants.

Former President Donald Trump, who aspires to return to the White House, entered the line and responded to Biden, "The border security agreement that Biden is pushing is not about stopping illegal immigration, but rather about continuing the invasion of America, while billions of dollars are being sent to Ukraine and other countries to no avail."

The border of the United States of America with Mexico extends over a distance of 3,145 kilometers, and according to CNN, the border guards counted more than 225,000 migrants on the border between the United States and Mexico in December alone, that is, a daily flow of 10,000 people.

Source: Al Jazeera