The State of Texas has passed legislation to accomplish what the Biden administration’s federal government refuses to do: affirm and defend America’s status as a sovereign nation with controlled borders.
Also Known as the “guarantee clause,” Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution states, “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them from Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence.”
Yes, the de facto open U.S. southern border with Mexico is the scene of a true invasion of unvetted people, sex traffickers, prospective terrorists, and deadly narcotics, most particularly fentanyl.
More than 10 million people — totaling more than the individual populations of 41 states — have been reported illegally entering the United States since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, by far the greatest number in history and of any administration.
That trespass rate has escalated, with more than 300,000 crossing the border in December ’23 alone, and at least 169 apprehensions of individuals on terrorist watch lists along with 28,000 Chinese nationals — many of them males of military age.
Not counted among these are the got-aways, many of them transporting Mexican cartel drugs using base ingredients from China.
An estimated 127,000 Americans died of fentanyl in 2020-21 alone, nearly three-times as many casualties as soldiers lost in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan combined.
The Biden open border policy is also at odds with the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act whereupon Congress sets priorities and annual limits on authorized numbers of legal immigrants.
While abolishing quotas, the legislation opened doors to "those who can contribute most to this country — to its growth, to its strength, to its spirit.," creating a preference system that focused on immigrants' skills and family relations with citizens or U.S. residents.
Last June, the state of Texas, having experienced the brunt economic, social, and criminal impacts of Biden administration open border policies, signed a sweeping package of six border security laws to compensate for lack of federal protections.
Among many provisions, the measure (SB-4) grants local law enforcement the power to arrest illegal migrants, gives judges the ability to issue orders to remove them to Mexico, and grants Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety the authority to block federal border control agents from interfering.
Notably, the new law does not apply to people lawfully present in the U.S., including those who have been granted asylum or who are enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
A major legal federal-state legal contest over the Texas initiative is inevitable centering on control of Eagle Pass’s 47-acre Shelby Park, a highly problematic 3.5-mile stretch of land along the Rio Grande where Texas troopers have denied entry to federal Border Control agents.
The situation became politically inflamed by blaming Texas when a mother and two children drowned trying to swim across the Rio Grande.
It was subsequently determined that after being alerted by Mexican authorities that those bodies had been discovered on their side of the river, Texas troops in Shelby Park had searched the river for any signs of migrants in distress.
They also treated two apprehended migrants suffering from hypothermia before handing them off to Border Patrol agents.
The Del Rio sector containing Eagle Pass lies in the epicenter of illegal entries where more than 81,000 migrants passed over from Mexico during October and November. A December court of appeals decision barred federal authorities from removing concertina fencing erected there by Texas authorities.
According to Fox News, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas admitted during a private meeting with Eagle Pass border agents that “above 85%” of migrants apprehended at the southern border are being released into the U.S. interior.
Immediately following execution of state legislative action, Jonathan Meyer, general counsel for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, sent a “cease and desist” letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton charging that Texas’ actions have “impeded operations of border patrol,” are in “conflict with the authority and duties of Border Patrol under federal law,” and are unconstitutional.
Abbott defended actions to take control of Eagle Pass in curbing the flow of illegal immigrants into the state, telling reporters at an unrelated press conference, “Texas has legal authority to control ingress into any geographic location in the state of Texas.”
Whereas the state immigration control bill wasn’t set to come into effect until March, Texas officers have reportedly already begun arresting migrants who are entering the park.
Renae Eze, an Abbott spokesperson, replied that the state is being forced to fill a security vacuum created by the White House, and therefore, “Texas will continue to deploy Texas National Guard soldiers, DPS troopers, and more barriers, utilizing every tool and strategy to respond to President Biden’s ongoing border crisis.”
That’s the Texas I know and respect.
Larry Bell is an endowed professor of space architecture at the University of Houston where he founded the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture and the graduate space architecture program. His latest of 12 books is "Architectures Beyond Boxes and Boundaries: My Life By Design" (2022). Read Larry Bell's Reports — More Here.