On Tuesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott — who was reelected just last week — announced that he was invoking the invasion clauses of the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Texas. Abbott has determined that the open-border policy of President Joe Biden constitutes a danger to the citizens of Texas, and by invoking the clauses, Abbott can deploy the National Guard and potentially other Texas-based forces to stop the free flow of illegal immigrants across the state’s border with Mexico.
While several news outlets have reported that Abbott officially declared an invasion, the invocation of the measures actually stops short of an invasion declaration.
“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,” Abbott tweeted. “I’m using that constitutional authority, & other authorization & Executive Orders to keep our state & country safe.”
Among the measures Abbott will take will be 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 Safety (DPS) to arrest & return to the border immigrants who crossed illegally & deploy DPS to arrest illegal immigrants for criminal activity,” and “Build a border wall in multiple counties on the border.”
Additionally, Abbott plans to “Deploy gun boats to secure the border; Designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations,” and “Enter in to a compact with other states to secure the border.”
Abbott described his frustration with the federal government in a letter to Biden.
“By refusing to enforce the immigration laws enacted by Congress, including 8 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(1)’s criminal prohibition against aliens entering the United States between authorized ports of entry, your Administration has made clear that it will not honor that guarantee [to protect the states against invasion],” Abbott wrote. “The federal government’s failure has forced me to invoke Article I, § 10, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution, thereby enabling the State of Texas to protect its own territory against invasion by the Mexican drug cartels.”
Approximately 5.5 million illegal immigrants have entered the United States since Biden took office in January of 2021, including close to one hundred illegal aliens on the terror watch list.
“Your inaction has led to catastrophic consequences. Under your watch, America is suffering the highest volume of illegal immigration in the history of our country. This past year, more than 2 million immigrants tried to enter the country illegally, coming from more than 100 countries across the globe,” Abbott told Biden. “Worse yet, your failed border policies recently prompted a United Nations agency to declare that the border between the United States and Mexico is the deadliest land crossing in the world.”
While many are lauding the move as strong action in the fight against illegal immigration, some see it more as a political stunt, meant to mollify Abbott’s base.
“While this sounds good — Governor Abbott has not invoked the full authority of an invasion declaration. Saying you’re being invaded but not blocking the invaders from coming is a hollow shell,” read a statement from Citizens for Renewing America, an organization fighting, among other things, illegal immigration.
“Until Governor Abbott removes illegals back across the border and out of the country, this will continue to be a P.R. stunt — and Texas and the rest of the U.S. are worse off because of it.”
Another tweet by Abbott on Tuesday lends credence to Citizens for Renewing America’s point of view.
“The first Texas bus of migrants has departed for Philadelphia,” Abbott tweeted. “The Lone Star State will continue doing more than any state in history to secure our border, including adding more sanctuary cities as drop-off locations for our busing strategy.”
But if these migrants are here illegally, why just reshuffle them into another portion of the United States? Why not, as his invocation states, “arrest & return to the border immigrants who crossed illegally?”
It’s long past time to get serious about defending the United States border. Under Joe Biden, border security in America has become a joke. Rhetorically, Abbott talks a good game — and he does have the power to stem the tide of illegal immigration into his state. In the end, only the coming months’ border numbers will tell if his strong words will have any effect.
To learn more about the illegal immigration problem and what can be done to stop it, click here.
