Brexit inspires US secessionists hoping for 'Texit' in Texas

The Brexit vote that confirmed the UK's decision to leave the European Union on Friday (24 June) has appeared to have inspired similar movements throughout Europe, and now, it would appear the US has taken inspiration as well. US secessionists in Texas are motivated by the citizen-drive vote in the UK and hope to force a "Texit" in the next election cycle in 2018.

Daniel Miller, president of the Texas Nationalist Movement, claims that an independent Texas and its $1.6 trillion a year economy would be one of the 10 largest in the world, Reuters reported. "The Texas Nationalist Movement is formally calling on the Texas governor to support a similar vote for Texans," the group said on Friday 24 June, the day the UK's decision to leave the EU had been announced.

"It is now important for Texas to look to #Brexit as an inspiration and an example that Texans can also take control of our destiny," Miller said in a previous statement on Thursday 23 June. "It is time for Texans to rally with us and fight for the right to become a self-governing nation."

From 1836 to 1845, Texas was an independent nation, after the Texas Revolution against Mexico. It later became the 28th state of the US, leading to the Mexican-American War.

The Texas Nationalist Movement claims to have over 260,000 supporters' signatures, in a petition for the governor to call for a vote. As Reuters further reported, the group failed to place a secession vote on the November ballot but hopes to reignite the campaign for the following election cycle in 2018. "Texit is in the air," claimed Miller.

The EU referendum's results arrived too late for US secessionists to use as motivation to launch movements to place measures on the November ballots, Reuters reported. The state previously seceded from the US following a 1861 referendum to join the Confederate States during the Civil War, the New York Daily News reported.

However, several groups in Texas have petitioned for secession since the Lone Star State rejoined the US when the Union won.

Texas is far from the only US state to petition to secede from the US. Reuters noted that a 2014 Reuters/Ipsos poll revealed nearly a fourth of Americans were open to their states leaving the US. In 2014, two separate efforts to split California into six states and Florida into two states were introduced, but neither made any significant headway.