The Texas secession movement is gaining ground—but the Lone Star State’s liberal-loving Austin is fighting back.
On Monday, Austin resident “Caleb M” petitioned the Obama administration to allow the city of Austin to withdraw from the state of Texas and remain part of United States, should Texas’ petition to secede be approved.
The online petition had 4,282 signatures as of Wednesday morning, and has until December 12, 2012, to reach the 25,000 signatures required to elicit a response from the White House.
“Austin, Texas continues to suffer difficulties stemming from the lack of civil, religious, and political freedoms imposed upon the city by less liberally minded Texans,” the petition reads. It goes on to explain how the withdrawal plan is “entirely feasible” for Austin, and cites the city’s desire to “protect its citizens’ standard of living” in asking to remain part of the United States.
The petition was submitted via “We The People,” a website the Obama administration launched last year that makes it easy to petition the government online. The White House promises to respond to any petition that receives 25,000 or more signatures within 30 days. Following President Obama’s re-election, residents in several states filed to secede from the United States. As of Wednesday morning, seven have qualified for a response from the government: Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and North Carolina. But the Texas’ petition for secession has considerably more support than any other state’s with 97,804 signatures. Though the likelihood of Texas seceding is slim, the viral quality of its and other states’ petitions is notable. But, like any internet sensation, the secession petitions have sparked an adverse reaction—there’s now an appeal to deport anyone who signed a petition for their state’s secession. That petition already has over 15,000 signatures.
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