Image: Heritage Foundation
In a letter to President Biden dated Nov. 15, newly re-elected Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced he is invoking “invasion clauses” of the U.S. Constitution due to illegal immigration from Mexico and "the invasion by the Mexican drug cartels"
"Your inaction has led to catastrophic consequences," he wrote.
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. 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.
Abbott, a Republican, said that he will now “fully authorize Texas to take unprecedented measures to defend our state against an invasion.” Invoking the “invasion clauses” allows the governor's administration to use the National Guard to repel illegal aliens, construct a border wall, and deploy gun boats.
Know this: Article I, § 10, Clause 3 is not just excess verbiage.It reflects an understanding by our Founders, the authors of the Constitution, that some future President might abandon his obligation to safeguard the States from an extraordinary inflow of people who have no legal right of entry. They foresaw your failures. In the more than 240 years of our great nation, no Administration has done more than yours to place the States in “imminent Danger”—a direct result of your policy decisions and refusal to deliver on the Article IV, § 4 guarantee.
Texans are paying the price for your failure. Ranches are being ripped apart, and homes are vulnerable tointrusion. Our border communities are regularly disrupted by human traffickers and bailouts. Deadly fentanyl iscrossing the porous border to such a degree that it is now the leading cause of death for citizens between the ages of 18 and 45.
Abbott wrote on social media. “I’m using that constitutional authority [and] other authorization [and] Executive Orders to keep our state [and] country safe.”
The Texas National Guard will be authorized to repel and turn away illegal immigrants who are attempting to cross into the United States, according to Abbott's office.
"In the words of Judge Oldham, however, you have “supplant[ed] the rule of law with the rule of say-so”while“telling Congress to pound sand.”
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