A Texas rancher has sued President Joe Biden and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), claiming their policies have led to “thousands of dollars” in damages to his property.
The rancher, Michael Vickers, lives 70 miles north of the U.S. southern border.
Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe and Atascosa County, Texas are also listed as plaintiffs.
According to the lawsuit, the defendants have “adopted unlawful policies that, working in concert, have frustrated Congress’s purposes in the immigration laws.”
The policies have resulted in the “current, massive flood of illegal entries by foreign nationals from around the world.
The lawsuit specifically argues that the Biden administration violated the “Take Care Clause of the Constitution that is conceptually clear, historically unique, and actionable by those it especially harms.”
The Take Care Clause calls for the U.S. President to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”
“Defendants’ non-enforcement and parole policies have caused great harm to Plaintiff Vickers’ ranch,” the suit adds. “Because of Defendants’ policies, tens of thousands of illegal aliens have been released into the interior who thereafter travel cross country across the grasslands of Plaintiff’s ranch.”
“In so doing, aliens routinely cause thousands of dollars in damage to fences or gates as they pass through the ranch,” it says. “Since early 2021, Plaintiff Vickers has incurred more than $50,000 in fence and gate damages alone. Plaintiff Vickers has also spent thousands of dollars to mitigate environmental damage.”
Illegal immigrants have left “tons of trash and litter” across the rancher, the lawsuit notes. Not only does the trash contaminate the ranch’s “food and water sources for livestock,” but cows were found to have consumed plastic bags, according to autopsy reports. “Cattle also escape through cut fences and gates torn down by illegal aliens,” the lawsuit states.
The rancher and his wife also keep dogs for security, which have caught “hundreds of criminal trespasses.” Many of those caught are gang members.
Due to the presence of the illegal immigrants, Vickers “must always be armed with a pistol and rifle in order to feel safe,” the lawsuit describes.
The plaintiffs are requesting that the court declare the Biden administration’s actions and parole policies unconstitutional, order immigration policies to be enforced, and award them the cost of attorney’s fees.
