Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) proclaimed an “invasion” at the southern border on Tuesday and said he would take “extraordinary actions… to keep our state and country safe.”
Abbott wrote to county judges along the Texas-Mexico border on Monday, claiming that “President Biden has abandoned his responsibility to enforce immigration laws, and Congress has refused to hold the President accountable and has abandoned its own responsibility to use the immigration power granted to it in Article I, 8 of the United States Constitution.”
The Republican governor invoked Texas Constitution Article 4, Section 7, which states that the governor “shall have power to call forth the militia to execute the laws of the State, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions.”
As a result, Abbott stated that he intends to use his constitutional authority, as well as other authorizations and executive orders, to:
- “Deploy the National Guard to safeguard our border & to repel & turn back immigrants trying to cross the border illegally”;
- “Deploy the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to arrest & return the border immigrants who crossed illegally & deploy DPS to arrest illegal immigrants for criminal activity”;
- “Build a border wall in multiple counties on the border”;
- “Deploy gun boats to secure the border”;
- “Designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations”;
- “Enter into a compact with other states to secure the border”;
- “Enter into agreements with foreign powers to enhance border security”; and
- “Provide resources for border counties to increase their efforts to respond to the border invasion.”
READ THE LETTER HERE:
Abbott took to social media on Tuesday, saying, “I invoked the Invasion Clauses of the U.S. & Texas Constitutions to fully authorize Texas to take unprecedented measures to defend our state against an invasion.”
I invoked the Invasion Clauses of the U.S. & Texas Constitutions to fully authorize Texas to take unprecedented measures to defend our state against an invasion.
I'm using that constitutional authority, & other authorization & Executive Orders to keep our state & country safe: pic.twitter.com/2Jt5HEMgp5
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) November 15, 2022
This announcement came just hours after Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas informed the House Homeland Security Committee that the border was secure.
According to Fox News, FBI Director Christopher Wray gave a different view of the border situation than Mayorkas, saying on Tuesday: “What I would say is that we see significant criminal threats coming from south of the border — whether it’s guns, drugs, money, violence.”
Hopkins County, Texas residents both anticipated and urged Abbott’s formal, statewide announcement of an invasion.
On Monday, the Hopkins County commissioners court approved the proclamation of a local state of disaster in the county, according to KETK.
The statement declared that “health, safety and welfare of Hopkins County residents are under an imminent threat of disaster from the unprecedented levels of illegal immigration, human trafficking and drug smuggling coming across the U.S. border from Mexico.”
According to the Hopkins County proclamation, the “ongoing immigration crisis on the Texas border is not acceptable and has resulted in a security threat and humanitarian disaster with far-reaching ramifications for Hopkins County people.”
During fiscal year 2022, nearly 2.76 million illegal aliens crossed the southern border into the United States.
So far this year, 1,142 criminal noncitizens have been convicted of assault; 1,614 of driving under the influence; 62 of homicide; 365 of sexual assaults; and thousands more of other offences.
The Hopkins County proclamation demanded that Abbott, “as Commander-in-Chief of the military forces of the State, declare the existence of an invasion on its border with Mexico and take necessary actions to preserve and protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Texas.”
And, that is exactly what Abbott did.
