Our friends at NewsMax report that Kinney, Goliad, Terrell, and Uvalde counties this week
issued disaster declarations and called on Texas Governor Greg Abbott to enforce federal immigration laws.
Kinney County Judge Tully Shahan was one of several county officials to declare a "local state of disaster" due to the surge in migrant border encounters.
In a draft news release shared with CHQ, Judge Shahan said:
Since January 2021, more than 3.2 million illegal aliens have been apprehended after unlawfully entering the United States. 1 More than 800,000 illegal aliens have avoided apprehension while unlawfully entering the United States and remain unaccounted for within our nation. 2 So far this year, CBP has identified more than 50 known terrorists who have unlawfully entered the United States through our unsecured border with Mexico. 3 The sophisticated human smuggling and drug trafficking organizations that facilitate these criminal acts are spearheaded by violent international drug cartels who have operational control over our unsecured U.S./Mexico border.
During the month of June, Kinney County law enforcement has prevented over 67 smuggling attempts along our roadways. During the month of May, Kinney County law enforcement documented over 4,000 illegal aliens who avoided apprehension by Border Patrol and whose whereabouts are currently unknown. This past week included the unfortunate deaths of 3 illegal aliens who were involved with human smuggling in Kinney County. Kinney County (Brackettville) has been forced to militarize our school campus with vehicle barriers to prevent high speed chases from entering campus and injuring children.
As a Texan, this is not acceptable. We will no longer allow the sovereignty of Texas to be invaded by those unwilling to obey our laws. The safety of Texans should come before the comfort of those who unlawfully enter our state and place our residents in harm’s way.
Texas border counties' officials on Tuesday argued that President Joe Biden had given up the federal government's constitutional duty to defend states from invasion and "domestic violence."
Thus, the officials said, states have the constitutional right to protect themselves from "imminent danger."
Calls to invoke the U.S. and state constitutions to declare an invasion have been based on a legal theory promoted in February by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich.
"The violence and lawlessness at the border caused by transnational cartels and gangs satisfies the definition of an 'invasion' under the U.S. Constitution, and Arizona therefore has the power to defend itself from this invasion under the Governor's authority as Commander-in-Chief," Brnovich wrote in a legal opinion.
"An actual invasion permits the State to engage in defensive actions within its own territory at or near its border."
Brnovich added that the Constitution's definition of invasion applied not only to hostile foreign states, but also to "hostile non-state actors."
"We don't want to lose America," Shahan said, the newspaper reported. "The Biden administration won't do a thing about it. They could stop this thing this hour. They could stop it now."
NewsMax reported officials said that human smugglers have been causing damage to property when they try to evade local law enforcement on their highways and county roads, the Texas Tribune reported. The sheriff's offices are overwhelmed by the amount of smuggling that has taken away from their other duties.
Last August, Abbott authorized the Texas National Guard to arrest people who illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border and violated state law. That came a month after ordering Guard members to assist the Texas Department of Public Safety in arresting illegal immigrants for breaking state laws.
Then in April, Abbott began sending migrants from Texas to Washington, D.C., after the Biden administration had transported immigrants to places around the United States.
Click here to read the Kenney County, Texas, Declaration of Invasion.
Texas border counties
illegal immigration
Biden administration
immigration enforcement
Kinney County Judge Tully Shahan
Goliad
Terrell
Uvalde
human smuggling
immigrant deaths
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich
invasion
Texas National Guard