Earlier: Abbott Goes There: Declares Invasion At Border Under U.S., Texas Constitution and States Are Leading The Way Against The Biden Regime Zerg Rush
Texas appears to be ready to fight Traitor Joe Biden’s Great Replacement invasion. Lone Star Republican lawmakers have drafted legislation that would create the state’s own border patrol and make illegally re-entering into the country a felony. Also, Florida is pursuing its own hard-nosed legislative package. President Biden is pretending to present a tougher stance on immigration, but border state Republicans know he can’t be trusted. It’s up to the states to do something about the invasion that Biden has openly supported.
This, of course, isn’t the first time a state has taken immigration law enforcement in its own hands. Arizona famously did so with SB 1070 back in 2010. The measure allowed state and local police to check the immigration status of motorists that they suspected of being illegals. It made it a misdemeanor for “migrants” not to carry required documents and criminalized aiding illegal aliens in defying the law—which is already a federal crime, by the way. The U.S. Supreme Court later neutered the law, and more restrictions were placed on local police who tried to help enforce immigration law.
That was then; this is now. SCOTUS is less liberal, and what was a crisis then is now an invasion, aided and abetted by the Biden Regime. The time is ripe for states to take the law into their own hands.
Texas’ proposal to enforce immigration law is more audacious than Arizona’s. One Texas House bill would create a state law enforcement agency that could arrest and deport illegals caught outside of a port of entry.
A border bill filed by @RepMattSchaefer would create a state unit of officers to “repel” and return migrants crossing the border outside a port of entry.
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) March 11, 2023
It also tests the boundaries of the state’s ability to enforce immigration law.https://t.co/CgLk38Yivy
The bill would appoint a chief who could rely on state and local police to enforce immigration. It would also empower the chief to deputize private citizens. Illegals who trespass on private property would face felony charges.
A Texas Senate bill would make crossing the border illegally a second time a felony and impose a one- to two-year jail sentence. Illegals with felony convictions could face life.
These aren’t fringe ideas proposed by backbenchers. Republican House Speaker Dade Phelean supports the House bill; Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick backs the Senate measure. Both enjoy wide support in the state GOP and have a decent chance of passage.
That possibility terrifies the Left. Democrats and Treason Lobbyists are hysterical. “It is designed to create racial profiling,” Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa told The Associated Press. “Something that is just horrendous” [Texas Republicans Propose State Immigration Police Force, by Acacia Coronado, March 13, 2023]. “I think the underlying fact that it is going to allow people to question our being American in our border communities and across Texas is unacceptable,” declared state Rep. Victoria Neave Criado, chairwoman of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus. And immigration lawyer César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández [Email him] worries the measures will put state law enforcement into “conflict” with the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The laws, he says, will send a terrifying message: “Texas is closed for business when it comes to welcoming people who are fleeing for their lives” [House unveils bill giving state authority to “repel” and return migrants crossing from Mexico, by Uriel J. Garcia, The Texas Tribune, March 10, 2023]
That’s the exact message these laws should send. With illegals the world over believing Biden has opened the borders, and correctly so, Texas must protect itself. If illegals knew they would be arrested and deported back to Mexico, they might reconsider crossing the border. Texas’ taking the law into its own hands is the right call. The Biden Regime certainly won’t enforce the law, his pretensions to the contrary regardless.
A SCOTUS ruling in favor of these measures would be a massive victory for immigration patriots. The states just have to enact them, let the feds sue over it, and get the case before the justices. Commitment to action is the first step in creating a precedent.
Texas has previously considered usurping federal authority. Gov. Greg Abbott publicly suggested the state would close the ports of entry in 2021 before ditching the idea. Apparently, he thought it was too bold a confrontation. He still should’ve done it and should pursue it again.
Nevertheless, Texas has done more than any other state about the border crisis. It has sent National Guard and state law enforcement to the border to monitor the situation. The governor has approved efforts to build a state-funded wall and sent illegals back to ports of entry. The state has also bused thousands of illegals to sanctuary cities across the country to send a message about the crisis. The busings likely prompted Biden to pretend to do something about the invasion.
I invoked the Invasion Clauses of the U.S. & Texas Constitutions to fully authorize Texas to take unprecedented measures to defend our state against an invasion.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) November 15, 2022
I'm using that constitutional authority, & other authorization & Executive Orders to keep our state & country safe: pic.twitter.com/2Jt5HEMgp5
In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis unveiled an ambitious immigration package last month:
Florida will not turn a blind eye to the dangers of Biden’s Border Crisis.
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) February 23, 2023
We are proposing additional steps to protect Floridians from these reckless federal policies, including mandatory E-Verify and prohibiting local government from issuing ID cards to illegal aliens. pic.twitter.com/tdrZ0Jw2wY
NumbersUSA describes the plan as erecting a “legal barrier” against illegal immigration rather than a physical one. The plan has wide-support within the state’s GOP legislative caucus and lawmakers promise passage. Furious Democrats call it “inhumane and outrageous.” [DeSantis pushes 'strongest' illegal immigration crackdown ahead of 2024 election, by Anna Giaritelli, Washington Examiner, March 13, 2023].
Texas and Florida are heading in the right direction. But why didn’t they act sooner? The invasion began when Biden took office.
One answer: Both state legislatures became more Republican after the midterms. The Texas GOP slightly increased its majorities [Republicans narrowly increase their majorities in Texas Legislature, by Zach Despart and James Barragán, The Texas Tribune, November 9, 2023]. Meanwhile, Republicans gained a supermajority in Florida [How Florida’s Republican supermajority handed Ron DeSantis unfettered power, by Richard Luscombe, The Guardian, February 18, 2023]. Those victories offer more room to push forward daring ideas.
The other answer: Abbott and DeSantis are 2024 presidential hopefuls. They want to shore up their credentials on immigration before announcing their candidacies. This answer better applies to DeSantis, who proposed Florida’s immigration plan. Abbott has yet to endorse the measures in the Texas state legislature. DeSantis’s plan will certainly form a critical part of his 2024 pitch, especially if it passes and he signs it. It will show he can achieve serious legislative change.
The Florida plan is probably the package that all Red States can easily emulate. The other border states are unfortunately led by Democrats and show little appetite for Texas’s bold proposals. But all non-border Red States can build the same barriers to illegals as Florida. No state should have in-state tuition for illegals, and E-Verify should be mandatory everywhere. Such measures are easily achievable and do not require a standoff with the federal government. They just require a state legislature and governor who will tell the business and ethnic lobbies to pound sand.
Texas’s plan requires a bit more than that. It will be a direct challenge to the federal government’s authority. If passed, it will trigger a massive legal fight that could set a precedent for generations.
But if the highest court in the land rules in favor of Texas, states could take control of illegal immigration and end the invasion. That’s something to hope for.
Washington Watcher II [Email him] is an anonymous DC insider.
