Greg Abbott Invokes Invasion Clause Over Border Crisis
(UnitedVoice.com) – Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) sailed to reelection on November 8, soundly defeating his Democratic challenger. The conservative leader has made a name for himself in national politics for his frequent head-to-head fights with President Joe Biden’s administration.
One of the issues Abbott has made the main focus of his administration is immigration. The border state has had to deal with hundreds of thousands of migrants flooding across the southern border. In the last several months, the governor has been busing immigrants out of his state to Democratic cities and states that allegedly claim they are sanctuaries. Recently, the governor took a surprising step on his mission to keep his state safe.
Invasion Clause
On November 16, Abbott announced he’d sent a letter to Biden informing him of his decision to invoke the Constitution’s invasion clause. The letter stated Article IV, § 4 of the Constitution promised the federal government would protect the states against an invasion. He argues the administration is failing to meet its obligation because it’s “refusing to enforce the immigration laws enacted by Congress.” Of those laws is 8 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(1), which prohibits immigrants from entering the US between ports of entry.
Throughout the immigration crisis, migrants have entered the country by just walking or swimming across the southern border. In fiscal year 2022, more than 2.7 million migrants did just that. While US Customs and Border Protection data shows the government expelled the vast majority of border crossers who did so illegally, the federal government allowed hundreds of thousands to stay. The Department of Homeland Security processed them at their facilities and released them into unsuspecting American communities along the border.
Abbott went on to say the federal government’s failure to end the crisis has caused him to invoke the Constitution’s Article I, § 10, Clause 3 to allow Texas to “protect its own territory against invasion by the Mexican drug cartels.”
Abbott’s Demands
The governor told the president he could stop the state of Texas from taking action under Article I, § 10, Clause 3 if he makes a number of changes. Those include
- ceasing the practice of paroling migrants who crossed illegally en masse. He pointed out that the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 only allows for such action in extreme circumstances;
- prosecuting all federal crimes of those entering illegally or reentering illegally;
- reinstating former President Donald Trump’s Migrant Protection Protocols;
- adhering to the laws that determine which immigrants should remain in custody, and;
- building the wall.
Do you agree with the way Abbott is handling the border crisis?
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