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There was a time when the Lone Star State deserved a little consideration from the rest of the nation for shouldering a Texas-sized share of the burden of this countrys immigration challenges. Until Congress finally gets its act together and approves comprehensive immigration reform legislation that provides a path to legal residency for more foreign nationals while shoring up border security a compromise thats been attempted and failed repeatedly since Ronald Reagan was president the United States will continue to struggle with a piecemeal approach that is neither fair nor humane, nor is it helpful to the economy or public safety. Its not even rational.

But empathy toward Texas, which shares over 1,200 border miles with Mexico, has dissipated over the years as the states leadership has reduced immigration issues to a problem of Mexican and Central American illegals, ignoring this countrys longstanding immigration roots as well as all the hardship and suffering many people face, leading them to seek a life in the states. Now, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has chosen to dispatch busloads of migrants to New York City and Washington, D.C., to make a public relations point about such sanctuary cities, where local laws or policies often protect undocumented immigrants from deportation or prosecution, and to protest what his office calls the Biden Administrations refusal to secure the border.

The message is simple: You deal with the crisis, because we dont want to. Theres no regard for the migrants themselves or the communities receiving them. And its certainly not deterring anyone. According to research from Syracuse University, highlighted in the Texas Tribune, the busing could actually help the migrants stay in the country longer. While Dallas has denied 70% of asylum applications over the past two decades, New York City courts have approved 70%.

Imagine if other communities burdened by insufficient federal policies sent their challenges elsewhere to handle. Baltimore is awash in guns, for example, yet Washington cant seem to approve sufficient regulation legislation thanks to NRA buddies like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Since Texas claims to be all about law-and-order, perhaps we should ship our seized illegal firearms to Americas second largest state.

Climate change is one of Marylands most worrisome long-term problems, but Congress hasnt taken stronger action to reduce emissions because oil and gas producing states like Texas have too much clout on Capitol Hill. Alas, even if we pipe our collective emissions back to those Texas deniers, we still get global warming, so heres our best alternative: Ship them our gas guzzlers. Lets make a point to the big petroleum companies that were headed, like California, to a future of electric vehicles, as soon as possible. The less gasoline we consume in Maryland, the better off well be.

Then theres plastic waste. From bags and bottles to packaging material and drinking straws, millions of tons of plastic debris are not only filling our landfills, floating in our oceans and destroying habitat, but they are also damaging human health. These are made from petrochemicals, another example of something coming out of Texas thats bad for everyone else. So lets start loading the garbage trucks and dumping our plastic back where it came from Texas.

Of course, the alternative to all that reciprocity and revenge would be for politicians like Mr. Abbott to sit down and stop treating migrants as subhuman and recognize this is a complex problem that requires a nuanced solution as do gun violence, climate change and plastic waste. Texans may have forgotten that it was President Reagan, the beloved leader of the political right, who granted amnesty to several million undocumented immigrants when Congress passed the last immigration reform deal in 1986. We hope they consider this a reminder.

Baltimore Sun editorial writers offer opinions and analysis on news and issues relevant to readers. They operate separately from the newsroom.

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If Texas is going to punt challenges elsewhere, here's what Maryland should send to Texas. | COMMENTARY - Baltimore Sun