What Does The Country Owe Texans?

Governor Greg Abbott of Texas is defying the federal government by using the Texas National Guard at the border and denying the federal Border Patrol the ability to do their job. Migrants are dying from Abbott’s razor wire and refusal of the National Guard to offer help that the Border Patrol would offer. He is now in violation of a Supreme Court order. Twenty-five Republican governors have issued a statement supporting Abbott.

A great many Texans do not support Abbott’s actions, nor do many citizens of those twenty-five states. Abbott won his last election in 2018 by 55.8%. That’s more than 3.5 million people who don’t support him.

There are a number of ways to look at this arguably secessionist situation. Abraham Lincoln framed the response to secession in 1860 in terms of the need to preserve the Union – to keep the United States entire.

I see an argument developing – in more than one place – that the rest of the country needs somehow to save those 3.5 million people. I don’t understand this argument, and I’d appreciate it if commenters could help me.

I understand the idea of feeling compassion for all Texans, including the MAGA-est of the MAGAs. It’s both religious and secular. At the minimum, Texans should not be blamed for their governor’s actions, although to the extent they support those actions, they are supporting something I cannot join them in. Further, I don’t know what the rest of us can do, besides our best to preserve the Union, to help those Texans.

It’s one thing to (try to, I’m not good at this) feel compassion for individuals and another to oppose their collective actions. It is the actions we are opposing, and making the argument about what the rest of the country might owe Texans (not quite the same thing as feeling compassion) seems to me unproductive. Better to discuss what the federal government can do to counter the actions and preserve the Union.

Those are some preliminary and perhaps not coherent thoughts. All help appreciated.