Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has endorsed a congressional resolution that recognizes states’ constitutional right to defend themselves against illegal immigration when the federal government fails to do so.
House Resolution 50 declares that states have the right to “defend their citizenry from the overwhelming and ‘imminent danger’ posed by paramilitary, narco-terrorist cartels, terrorists and criminal actors who seized control of our southern border.”
It cites the Constitution’s Guarantee Clause, which requires the federal government to protect states against invasion, and Article I, Section 10, which allows states to act in self-defense when the federal government fails to do so.
“I am in strong support of H.Res.50 as it further affirms that the Constitution’s Self-Defense Clause gives states an independent right to act when invaded, as Texas was under Joe Biden,” Paxton said. “When Texas joined the Union, it retained sovereign authority to defend its people and territory. I will stop at nothing to protect and preserve that right.”
If passed, H.Res.50 would act as a formal statement of the House’s position and would ensure border states are better positioned to defend their people and territory regardless of the policies adopted by future presidential administrations.
In particular, the measure would bolster Texas’ legal defense of border enforcement measures such as Senate Bill 4, which makes it a crime to enter Texas illegally. Paxton has been a staunch defender of SB 4 after it faced multiple lawsuits.
“Attorney General Paxton has been on the front lines defending Texas’ constitutional authority to protect its citizens against the invasion and disaster at our southern border created by the Biden administration,” said U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington (R–Lubbock), author of H.Res.50. “While President Trump is vigilantly securing our border and enforcing our immigration laws, Congress must act now to ensure Texas and other border states are never again defenseless against the open-border Biden-era policies that flooded our state and nation with dangerous criminal aliens and deadly fentanyl.”
Republicans across Texas have shown their support for the resolution.
A March letter from the Texas Public Policy Foundation to the U.S. Congress in support of the H.Res.50 garnered over 100 signatures from state lawmakers, Republican leadership, and additional advocates.
“The authority of states to defend their citizens and territories predates the formation of the Union itself,” the letter reads.
“The speed and scale at which such conditions developed demonstrate how quickly state security can be compromised, and how easily similar circumstances could arise again absent clear constitutional recognition of state authority.”
The resolution is currently in the House Judiciary Committee, awaiting a committee hearing.
