Governor Abbot publicly declares invasion

by Kyle Shideler at Center for Security Policy

In a surprise move on November 15, Texas Governor Greg Abbott posted to social media to declare that he had “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” in response to the ongoing border crisis. This refers to Article 1 Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution which allows states to take military action in the event of ongoing or imminent threat of invasion.

Abbott’s message noted 8 specific actions which he would take as result of the declaration, the most notable of which was that the Texas National Guard, already deployed to the border under Operation Lone Star, would “repel and turn back immigrants trying to cross the border illegally.” At present Texas National Guard members cooperate with U.S. Border Patrol and serve as a visual deterrent but are not actually engaged in physically preventing illegal crossings. A notable signal of the National Guard’s largely symbolic status was an August video captured by Fox News which showed Texas National Guard troops physically securing a gate only to have U.S .Border Patrol unlock the same gate moments later to admit dozens of illegal aliens.

If under Abbott’s order the Texas National Guard physical repelled illegal aliens from crossing into Texas, it would represent a significant development. But it is not immediately clear if this declaration will result in substantive changes to the National Guard’s operations.

The language in the declaration related to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) did not represent a substantive policy change. The Abbott statement called for DPS to arrest illegal immigrants and return them “to the border” which is existing Texas policy. This means that illegal aliens are remanded to the custody of Customs and Border Patrol at border crossings, which results in these illegals being paroled into the United States in accordance with the current Biden Administration policy. This is contrary to the hopes of Invasion Declaration advocates, who have urged the governor to use constitutionally derived war powers to return illegal aliens across the border back into Mexico in defiance of federal policy. 

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.

I'm using that constitutional authority, & other authorization & Executive Orders to keep our state & country safe: pic.twitter.com/2Jt5HEMgp5

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) November 15, 2022

Abbott also called for the formation of a compact among states aimed at securing the border, something the Center for Security Policy urged in September of this year following Governor Abbott’s declaration of Mexican Drug cartels as a terror threat:

Texas could continue to solidify its position, if it were to take the lead in establishing a regional interstate compact to unify nearby states in their response to narco-terrorism threats. Each state should establish narco-terrorism task forces within the appropriate departments to gather intelligence and conduct operations to reduce and disrupt the threat of narco-terrorism in the region. States could also cooperate in multi-jurisdictional operations against narco-terrorism groups operating within the region, sharing intelligence and resources. Agreeing to supply resources to bolster joint intelligence and investigative efforts to target narco-terrorist groups would also help solidify a regional effort as would formalizing and easing the extradition of subjects arrested on narco-terrorism-related charges among compact states.

It might also be advisable to encourage compact member states to likewise issue formal declarations in concurrence with the Texas declaration that the situation on the U.S.-Mexico border represents an invasion presenting a more united front in the event of a seemingly inevitable federal challenge.

While Abbott’s public declaration of invasion is a step in the right direction, it is vital that the Texas governor’s office follows through, maximally utilizing the authorities assumed by such a declaration within the context of invasion.

To begin with, the governor’s office should transmit a formal declaration to the U.S. Congress informing them of Texas’ status as under invasion by a coalition of dangerous narco-terrorist and human-trafficking cartels operating under the cover of a human wave of illegal migration. The governor should immediately declare the Texas-Mexico border area a military zone and order the Texas National Guard to take all steps necessary to physically prevent unauthorized access to the zone from the Mexican side. Illegal entrants should be returned to the Mexican side of the border to enable the National Guard and Texas DPS to effectively respond to drug trafficking and other criminal operations. Military-aged illegals who: engage in deliberate subterfuge to avoid detection, travel in military-style formations, wear camouflage, carry arms, or are otherwise identifiable as combatants can and should be held securely under the laws of war until such time as they can be safely repatriated. All this can be done as a matter of military necessity and should not be construed as an infringement of the federal government’s constitutional power to regulate immigration.

Governor Abbott is to be commended for framing the ongoing border crisis as an invasion. The next step is to ensure that Texas policy accurately aligns with the seriousness of that declaration, not merely as a rhetorical gesture.