Greg Abbott Remark Raises 'Civil War' Alarm Bells for Watergate Prosecutor

Texas Governor Greg Abbott's feud with the federal government that has escalated to some calls for "civil war" sheds doubt on long-term American prosperity, says former Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks.

Months of back-and-forth between Abbott and the Biden administration recently came to a head following the conservative Supreme Court's 5-4 decision to vacate an injunction from an appeals court, allowing federal Border Patrol agents to remove razor wire installed at the border by Texas officials under Abbott's direction. It does not prevent Texas from erecting new wire.

The ruling prompted Abbott to push back even harder, and his efforts have been subsequently praised by fellow Republican governors and mayors from dozens of states that have either already provided National Guard soldiers for additional security or expressed being open to providing them. The partisan rhetoric has led to mentions of impending "civil war" by hardline conservatives like Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and other politicians and online users.

Wine-Banks' concerns of a splintering union were heightened by Abbott's response to the Supreme Court decision, with him saying, for example, "The federal government has broken the compact between the United States and the States."

"Abbott's statement on its own is enough to make me fear our future as a federal republic," Wine-Banks wrote in an op-ed published by MSNBC. "It includes misstatements of law and numerous factual errors, and its words sound like a call for a 21st century civil war. The opening sentence alone ... would not be out of place among the declarations of secession issued nearly 165 years ago."

Newsweek reached out to Wine-Banks via email for comment on Friday.

In December, about 300,000 migrants—nearly 10,000 per day—entered the U.S. through Mexico, including about 250,000 between ports of entry, according to Customs and Border Protection data. That same month, there were 155,789 migrant encounters in Texas.

Federal border agents encountered about 2.5 million migrants in total last year, surpassing the previous record high from a year earlier, the agency said.

"I am not an alarmist by nature," said Wine-Banks. "From my time as a prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal, I have never doubted that justice would prevail or that democracy would survive. I never doubted that our union would last—until now.

"Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's actions at the southern border and his reaction to the Supreme Court's decision in favor of the federal government make me fear for the continued existence of the United States of America."

Wine-Banks also worries about Abbott's signing of Texas Senate Bill 4, which was set to go into effect on March 4 but is pending due to a Biden administration challenge. The legislation would make it a crime to illegally cross the border, with charges garnering potential six-month prison sentences for first-time offenders, while repeat offenders could face up to 20 years.

Judges can drop charges if a defendant agrees to return to Mexico.

"In fact, should the Supreme Court rule against the Biden administration's challenge to that law, that would have consequences for every federal policy, not just immigration policy," Wine-Banks warns, adding that it's always been customary for the federal government to control immigration, national security, international relations and domestic borders.