Last Monday, a bill was introduced that would set up a referendum for voters to decide whether Texas should secede from the United States.
This bill was introduced and filed by Republican Texas State Representative Bryan Slaton. If passed, this “Texas Independence Referendum Act,” or TEXIT, will place a referendum on the ballot during the 2024 general election that would allow the investigation of the possibility of Texas independence.
In a tweet, Bryan Slaton writes: “The Texas Constitution is clear that all political power resides in the people. After decades of continuous abuse of our rights and liberties by the federal government, it is time to let the people of Texas make their voices heard.”
In addition: “Texas was born out of a desire for liberty and self-governance, and that desire continues to burn in the hearts of all Texans.”
There is also a movement for Texas independence. This Texas National Movement has more than 440,000 members, according to Fox News, and all of them support “TEXIT”.
“The people of Texas will look back on this day as a historic first step in taking back our autonomy and our right to self-determination from the federal government,” Daniel Miller, president of this movement, told Fox News.
This isn’t new. Texas secession movements have appeared at all moments of US history. In recent dates, a similar bill was proposed by Rep. Kyle Biedermann in January, 2021, but it didn’t pass.
Even among Republicans, not all of them agree with the TEXIT. Republican State Representative Jeff Leach cited the bill proposed by Slaton in a tweet: “This ridiculous bill is the very definition of hypocritical & seditious treason & it is already dead.”
This bill still needs a lot of support to pass and it’s also unconstitutional which means it might never pass. The Constitution doesn’t permit states to unilaterally secede from the United States.
