(The Center Square) – Forty Texas counties have now declared an invasion of the southern U.S. border with Mexico or have expressed support for Texas to declare an invasion. More are on the way, according to sources who spoke to The Center Square.
Among the most recent to join the invasion call are the magistrates and commissioners of Collin, Fannin, Leon, Navarro, Shackelford, Somervell and Waller counties.
They urge Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to officially declare an invasion and repel it, which he has yet to do. The governor cited the invasion clauses of the Texas Constitution and the US Constitution in one Nov 14 letters to district judges and in a Nov 16 letters to President Joe Biden. He also wrote letters to the heads of the Texas Military Department and the Department of Public Safety.
In his letter to the judges, Abbott references a July 7 executive order he issued two days after the Kinney, Goliad and Terrell judges first declared an invasion. The executive order does not explain an invasion, it empowers Texas law enforcement officials to arrest illegal aliens and bring them back to ports of entry. After Abbott tweeted the content of part of the letter to the judges without providing the context, many misreported that he has declared an invasion.
As a professor at Trinity University explained to KSAT News: “You cannot explain the invasion via Twitter. There’s a process of naming it, giving it a date, and releasing it in some sort of public way.”
Neither Abbott’s July 7 executive order nor his letter to the President declares an invasion; There is no signed and dated formal declaration of invasion on the governor’s website.
The Texas Republican Party and judges have urged Abbott to repel the invasion by preventing entry of illegal aliens and turning back those who enter illegally to Mexico. While Abbott’s November letters use the word “repel,” Texas law enforcement officials working on Operation Lone Star have not prevented or turned back to Mexico the thousands of people who enter Texas illegally each day. Currently, they continue standard practice of turning over illegal aliens they detain to US Border Patrol agents.
As of December 1, as of December 1, as a result of Abbott’s instructions, law enforcement officials working through OLS have arrested more than 328,000 illegal aliens, made more than 22,100 criminal arrests and reported more than 19,600 felonies in four sanctuary cities in Texas, according to the state.
Prior to Abbott’s November letters, judges and commissioners in Collin, Fannin and Leon counties signed resolutions recognizing “an invasion against the state of Texas” in September. They urged the state to “take all steps necessary and permitted by the U.S. and Texas Constitutions” to secure the border and “repel the invasion of our frontier.” They also called for “additional measures to secure the border, stop the border invasion and protect our communities,” citing the cartel-driven human and drug trafficking that is “a security threat and a humanitarian catastrophe with overwhelming consequences” for the country created the Texans.
In October, Navarro, Shackelford and Somervell counties took action.
The Navarro County resolution expresses “support for the governor to take the necessary action to stop the chaos on our border,” stating, “The health, safety and well-being of Texas residents are under an imminent threat exposed to unprecedented levels of illegal immigration, human trafficking and drug smuggling coming from Mexico across the U.S. border.”
Shackelford County Judge Robert Skelton signed a disaster declaration similar to the one signed by Lavaca County Judge. Specifically, the rural county is said to be about two hours west of Ft. Worth is under invasion. The border crisis, the judge said, created a “security threat and humanitarian catastrophe with overwhelming consequences for Shackelford County residents and Texans.”
He also sent a copy of his statement to Abbott, his assistant told The Center Square. The statement calls on Abbott to “declare the existence of an invasion on its border with Mexico and to take such action as is necessary to uphold and protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Texas.”
Officials in rural Somervell County, about an hour southwest of Fort Worth, also decided to secure the border. Judge Danny Chambers, who signed it, said they did it because “it was the right thing to do. Northern counties are also affected,” he told The Center Square. “Every district is.”
The resolution describes Mexican cartels as “paramilitary, narco-terrorist organizations profiting from human and drug trafficking into the US,” describes the border crisis as a “security threat and humanitarian catastrophe,” expresses support for “border counties under invasion,” supports OLS efforts and urges Abbott to “secure the Texas border and repel the invasion at the border.”
About a week after Abbott sent out his November letters, Waller County was the first to pass a resolution urging him to secure the border. Notably, the district was the first to label the cartels as “command and control irregular warfare into the United States,” exploiting insecure borders to entrench their power structure with billions in profits, and using migrant warfare to cover up trafficking drugs and people through Use of irregular techniques, tactics and procedures.”
The district also notes that Abbott describes the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and formally acknowledges “non-state actors conducting irregular warfare and violating the sovereignty and national security of the United States, and Governor Abbott’s formal diplomatic representation in the United States.” promotes the state of Texas is not immune to invasion.”
These seven counties join 33 whose border security decisions or declarations remain in force.
Together the 40 counties include Atascosa, Burnet, Chambers, Clay, Collin, Ector, Edwards, Ellis, Fannin, Goliad, Hamilton, Hardin, Hood, Hunt, Jack, Jasper, Johnson, Kinney, Lavaca, Leon, Liberty, Live Oak, Madison, McMullen, Montague, Navarro, Orange, Parker, Presidio, Shackelford, Somervell, Terrell, Throckmorton, Tyler, Van Zandt, Waller, Wharton, Wichita, Wilson and Wise.
Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin is the only mayor in Texas or the United States to declare an invasion.
By Bethany Blankley | The Center Square contributor
