At the Nov. 9 Commissioners’ Court, a resolution in support of additional measures to secure the Texas border was unanimously approved.
Prefacing the resolution, Judge Richard Evans stated, “We lead the charge to get the legislature and the Governor to declare an invasion on our Southern border. I think we agree we have an invasion, we just have an administration in Washington that doesn’t know how to spell invasion, or something like that.”
Evans continued, “Anyway, this actually is encouraging the Governor to formally declare, which would free upon resources and hopefully get some action taken. In Operation Lonestar, he called another session yesterday and we’re still fighting the battle down at the border, but, something’s gotta’ give.”
Commissioner Jody Rutherford interjected, “What’s going to give, is if this law goes into effect he’s trying to pass down there, we’re going to end up with a bunch of inmates that are not going to be funded except by the people of this county, and I don’t support that at all one bit.”
The county’s resolution reads in full: “A resolution calling for additional measures to secure the border, stop the invasion at the border, and protect our communities" whereas, the Preamble to the United States Constitution outlines the chief responsibility of the Federal Government is to “insure domestic tranquility” and “provide for the common defense”; “and whereas, Article IV, Section 4 of the United States Constitution provides “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against invasion”; “and whereas, Article IV, Section 7 of the Texas Constitution provides the Governor of Texas legal authority as “Commander-in-Chief of the military forces of the State” ... and ... “He shall have power to call forth the militia to execute the laws of the State, to suppress insurrections, and to repel invasions”; “and whereas, Governor Greg Abbott, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Texas National Guard are using legal authority vested by the Texas Constitution to secure the border, stop the smuggling of drugs, weapons, and cartel-trafficked people into Texas, and prevent, detect, and interdict transnational criminal activity between ports of entry; “and WHEREAS, Since Gov. Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in March 2021, the multi-agency effort has led to more than 473,900 arrests of illegal aliens, including more than 34,800 criminal arrests, with more than 31,800 felony charges reported. Statewide, OLS officers have seized over 431 million lethal doses of fentanyl, enough to kill more than the populations of the U.S. and Canada.
“Whereas, since January 2021, over 8 million illegal border crossers have entered the U.S., totaling more than the individual populations of 38 U.S. states. 1 — “The overwhelming majority of them are single adults. These numbers exclude the more than 1.6 million gotaways who are known to have evaded capture after illegally entering the U.S. 2 — “It also excludes over 600 known, suspected terrorists who’ve been apprehended at our southern and northern borders. 3 — “This invasion is unsustainable and threatens the lives of our citizens. Counties and states cannot absorb the socio-economic costs and criminal impact resulting from illegal immigration and an unsecure and open border.”
Bethany Blankley, “Illegal border crossers since 2021 total more than the individual populations of 38 states,” The Center Square, June 22, 2023, https://www.thecentersquare.com/national/article81293caa-1050-llee-8619-734bf9lc6025.html.
“The Border Report: Nearly 1.6 million ‘gotaways’ in U.S. since January 2021,” The Center Square, https://www.thecentersquare.com/national/article39ac2ale-427c-1leeb49l-8ill9038b3e88.html.
U.S. Customs & Border Protection Terrorist Screening Dataset encounters, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/cbpenforcement-statistics, as of Sept. 15, 2023.
