In the decade before the Civil War, there was “Bloody Kansas”—assaults, killings, and other violent, extralegal fights over slavery on a ragged edge of the American Republic.
As political violence heats up in the modern United States, another kind of border state—Texas—has become a theater of irregular warfare over immigration as the Trump administration seeks to carry out mass deportations.
The latest in a series of deadly attacks on immigration law enforcement has prompted national-scale pushback from President Donald Trump and his team.
The Lone Star State isn’t the only place where opposition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has crossed the line from words to violence. The Department of Homeland Security has reported a 1000 percent increase in the rate of assaults on ICE agents, with high-profile clashes occurring in Portland, Oregon, and just outside Chicago, Illinois.
But the Sept. 24 sniper attack in Dallas marked a grim local milestone. The attack was the third such shooting this year in Texas. Previous attacks targeted a Border Patrol station in McAllen and the Prairieland ICE Detention Facility in Alvarado.
The sniper fired at an ICE facility and transport vehicles from a nearby rooftop, killing one detainee and leaving two others injured. No ICE agents were hurt.
The suspected perpetrator, Joshua Jahn, was later found dead with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The escalating violence comes as ICE critics accuse agents of using needlessly aggressive tactics, including in a Manhattan immigration court where an officer was caught on video tackling a woman to the ground. Though he was relieved of his duties, critics worry that such practices are more widespread and rarely disciplined.
The bloodshed in Dallas may just be the starting point for Trump and his administration.
On Truth Social, the president called on Democratic politicians to curb their anti-ICE rhetoric—a trend DHS has highlighted on its website.
During a Sept. 25 press conference, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) condemned political violence while suggesting the White House should “take the temperature down for everybody.” He added that DHS “should be ashamed of themselves” for comments on Democratic elected officials.
The Trump administration’s response has gone beyond social media rhetoric.
Both DHS and the Justice Department have vowed to boost protection for ICE.
On Sept. 29, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memorandum spelling out more details of her department’s response.
Among other things, it directs the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Marshals Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to assist in protecting ICE.
In addition, on Sept. 27, Bondi said that assaults on ICE officers would result in federal charges.
—Nathan Worcester
SHUTDOWN CONTINUES
The federal government remains shut down after the Senate yesterday rejected a pair of competing plans that would temporarily extend funding.
Both parties have an incentive to keep the shutdown going at least for a short period, some experts told The Epoch Times.
For Democrats, a public fight over health care may rally their base.
“The perception right now is that Democrats have not done everything they could to stop the Trump administration,” said Aaron Dusso, chair of political science at Indiana University Indianapolis.
Health care is an ideal issue for Democrats to leverage, Dusso said, because it’s considered their “home turf.”
Republicans gain by defending the ground they won in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act and holding the line on spending, according to David Schultz, professor of political science and legal studies at Hamline University.
President Donald Trump also plays a large role in the shutdown, some analysts told us.
“It gives him a freer hand in some of his government-cutting exercises,” Matthew Wilson, associate professor of political science at Southern Methodist University, told us.
Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, confirmed yesterday that layoffs are in the works, and said they’ll happen “very soon” in an Oct. 1 press briefing.
Meanwhile, some moderate Democrats and Republicans met yesterday to discuss a one-year extension of the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium tax credits.
Several Republicans had already proposed this, and the Affordable Care Act subsidies have been a key negotiating point for Democrats.
“I’m glad we’re talking,” Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) told reporters.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said, “a lot of people would really like to find a path forward. But it requires, first of all, to get the government open again,” Rounds added.
Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with Democrats, voted in favor of the Republican-backed continuing resolution yesterday.
Republicans need just five more Democrats to cross the aisle to reopen the government.
How long will the shutdown last? At least a few days, maybe a week or two, our experts said.
“Once we get into a week-long shutdown or a two-week shutdown . . . consequences start to become more apparent for ordinary Americans,” Wilson said.
“Both parties are going to wait and see where public opinion goes,” Dusso said. That’ll take a few days, maybe a week, he figured.
Will this affect the midterms?
Probably not, according to Wilson, as long as it doesn’t go too long. “People have relatively short political memories,” he said.
Of the 10 previous shutdowns, the longest lasted 34 days from Dec. 21, 2018, to Jan. 25, 2019.
—Lawrence Wilson
BOOKMARKS
The Supreme Court won’t allow Trump to fire Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook just yet, but on Wednesday, it agreed to hear arguments in the case. “The court’s decision rightly allows Governor Cook to continue in her role on the Federal Reserve Board, and we look forward to further proceedings consistent with the court’s order,” Cook’s attorney Abbe Lowell said in a statement.
Trump issued an executive order emphasizing U.S. support for Qatar on Wednesday, following an Israeli airstrike against Hamas officials in that country last month. “The United States shall regard any armed attack on the territory, sovereignty, or critical infrastructure of the state of Qatar as a threat to the peace and security of the United States,” the order says.
Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, announced on Oct. 1 that the federal government would withhold money that had been destined for construction projects in the Big Apple. “Roughly $18 billion in New York City infrastructure projects have been put on hold to ensure funding is not flowing based on unconstitutional DEI principles,” Vought wrote on X.
