Due to the surge of illegal immigration on the border since President Joe Biden took office last year, citizens are calling for Texas to take the reins and fill in the security gap created by Biden’s lax policies.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Arizona v. U.S. that individual states are not allowed to enforce federal immigration law, states are left with few options to secure their own borders. However, states do have the constitutional right to repel an invasion by utilizing their state guards in the absence of federal action, according to Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3.
In the last nine months, apprehensions along the border have surged past the previously record-breaking 1.7 million. Border Patrol agents between Brownsville, Texas, and San Diego, California, apprehended 232,628 illegal border crossers in May, the highest monthly total in 23 years of counting.
As a result of this flood of illegal immigration, drug smuggling has skyrocketed. Fentanyl overdoses have become the leading cause of death for adults between the ages of 18-45, with enough kilograms of the drug confiscated over the last nine months to kill every Texas citizen twice over.
Although Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has yet to declare this crisis an invasion, several Texas counties—including Kinney, Goliad, Val Verde, Tarrell, Zavalda, and Parker—declared an invasion in July.
This Monday, Wise County joined the number, as it “recognizes our southern Texas border is suffering an invasion.”
Wise County just passed the following resolution to request that @GregAbbott_TX declare an invasion per Article I, Sec 10 of the US Constitution. #BorderInvasion pic.twitter.com/3kU9hveY1q
— Andy Hopper (@AndyHopperTX) August 8, 2022
Although no direct policy changes will be made as a result of this declaration, part of the declaration exhorts Gov. Greg Abbott—the only one with the power to officially declare an invasion—to “take the necessary steps…[to] stop the invasion at the border.”
Kinney County Attorney Brent Smith told the Center Square, “The significance of other counties across Texas also declaring an invasion cannot be overstated. It clearly establishes that the border crisis impacts every county in the state.”
He continued, “The safety and security of every Texan is threatened by the federal government’s abandonment of its constitutional duty. … If Texans don’t save Texas, no one will.”
Concerned citizens can contact Gov. Greg Abbott with concerns regarding the border invasion.
