Stepping up where the federal government and Governor Greg Abbott have failed, three Texas counties have officially declared they are under invasion at a press conference today in Brackettville.
Led by Kinney County Judge Tully Shahan and county District Attorney Brent Smith, officials from Kinney, Uvalde, and Goliad counties issued declarations of an invasion beginning on Tuesday in response to escalated illegal immigration under the Biden administration.
Texas is being invaded by untold thousands of people who call themselves “immigrants” or “refugees” but who are still breaking the law as unwelcome visitors. Their invasion is being aided by armed narco-terrorist criminal gangs who are acting as armed protection and it is facilitated by the federal government who give them financial assistance and transportation inland once they cross into Texas.
Kinney County Attorney Brent Smith speaking on behalf of the counties, requested that Governor Abbott and Attorney General Paxton take steps to declare an invasion. The Texas Constitution gives the Governor authority over the state troops, including calling up the militia to “repel invasions.” The US Constitution allows states, even without the consent of Congress, to raise troops to fight an “invasion” when “imminent danger will not admit of delay” (Article 1, Section 10)
While Abbott has thus far failed to use his power under the constitution to deal directly with immigration issues, Abbott has taken measures to thwart other criminal activity at the border through Operation Lone Star. Since OLS launched last March, state and local law enforcement efforts, working with U.S. Border Patrol, have helped apprehend more than 270,400 illegal immigrants and made more than 16,700 criminal arrests, with more than 14,000 felony charges reported the governor’s office says. In addition, his office says that more than 5,600 weapons and $42.8 million in currency have also been seized. More than 22,700 people attempting to enter Texas illegally have been turned back to Mexico.
“Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps left by the Biden Administration’s refusal to secure the border,” Abbott said last week of OLS accomplishments. “Every individual who is apprehended or arrested and every ounce of drugs seized would have otherwise made their way into communities across Texas and the nation due to President Biden’s open border policies.”
Operation Lone Star limits its action to enforcing Texas laws, such as trespassing or drug laws, against those who have entered the state without authorization. Even though the presence of these “immigrants” is itself illegal on a national level, Texas is thus far limited to enforcing state laws.
But counties are calling on him to do more: “We are taking unprecedented steps with the hope of encouraging Gov. Greg Abbott to acknowledge the existence of an invasion on our border with Mexico and take necessary actions to preserve and protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Texas,” Shahan and Smith said in a news release.
Last month, law enforcement efforts prevented over 67 smuggling attempts in Kinney County. In May, more than 4,000 “got-aways” were documented evading law enforcement in the county “whose whereabouts are currently unknown,” according to the announcement.
Smith told The Texas Nationalist Movement, “Gov. Abbott recently acknowledged the fact that unprecedented times require unprecedented action from both state and local governments in order to protect our citizens. As such, several border counties have taken unprecedented action and declared an invasion on our border with Mexico. This coalition of counties support Gov. Abbott’s efforts and request he stand alongside us and declare an invasion and swiftly act to protect Texas.”
Goliad County Sheriff Roy Boyd, who also attended the press conference, has been aggressively pursuing cartel-related trafficking activity coming from the border. “From the time of Texas independence from Mexico until today, Texas has played a key part in American growth and exceptionalism,” Boyd told The Center Square. “The rugged individualist mentality of Texans is what spurs us to take matters into our own hands instead of huddling in the protective shadow of the government waiting for answers and permission that may never come.”
