42 Texas Counties Support for Formal ‘Invasion’ Declaration

At least 42 counties in Texas have declared an invasion or expressed support for Texas declaring an invasion at the southern border, according to sources who have spoken to The Center Square.

These counties cite Article IV, Section 7 of the Texas Constitution, which authorizes the governor to “call forth the militia to execute the laws of the state, to suppress insurrections, and to repel invasions” as well as the invasion clauses of the U.S. and Texas constitutions granting the governor the authority to defend Texas’ border.

They also cite the federal government’s failure to uphold its constitutional duties to “insure domestic tranquility” and “provide for the common defense.”

One of the resolutions, signed by Franklin County Judge Scott Lee, specifically calls for the governor, attorney general and state legislature to take action. He calls on “the Texas governor to make a formal declaration of invasion, thereby invoking the state authority under the invasion clause of the U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3.”

He also calls on the governor “as the Commander-in-Chief of the Texas National Guard” to activate and deploy it and other state assets “to detain and return illegal aliens back across the border, turn back illegal aliens crossing from Mexico at the border, and defend Texas against cartel operatives, human traffickers, and drug mules moving deadly fentanyl into Texas towns and communities.”

Although Texas Governor Greg Abbott has not yet declared a formal invasion or announced a military strategy to repel it, he did issue an executive order authorizing the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety to detain and remove foreign nationals who enter Texas unlawfully from Mexico. Abbott signed the executive order just two days after the judges of Kinney, Goliad, and Terrell counties first declared an invasion on July 5, 2022.

At the time, Gov. Abbott directed the heads of the Texas Military Department and Department of Public Safety to apprehend illegal foreign nationals and return them to ports of entry, actions they’ve already been taking. He said that the Biden administration’s decision to end Title 42 expulsions and the Remain-in-Mexico policy had “led to historic levels of illegal crossings, with 5,000 migrants being apprehended over the July 4th weekend, creating a border crisis that has overrun communities along the border and across Texas.”

“While President Biden refuses to do his job and enforce the immigration laws enacted by Congress, the State of Texas is once again stepping up and taking unprecedented action to protect Americans and secure our southern border,” he continued. “The cartels have become emboldened and enriched by President Biden’s open border policies, smuggling in record numbers of people, weapons, and deadly drugs like fentanyl.”

Under the Biden administration’s policy, the majority of immigrants apprehended by Border Patrol agents are released into the U.S.

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