Jan. 25, 2024 - Epoch Times
12:05
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| Seeing the massive wave of nonstop migrants flooding into this country, as well as the federal government's apparent inability or perhaps their lack of interest in doing anything to stop it, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has been making attempts to mitigate the situation himself. | |
| Because even though, technically, immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility, well, what is the state to do when their very own federal government has allowed for the release of 6.2 million illegal migrants into the country over just the last three years? | |
| Especially when that particular state is Texas, which shares a 1,200-mile border with Mexico. | |
| Well, one month ago, Governor Greg Abbott signed into law a new border security bill which gave Texas state law enforcement very broad authority, including the ability to arrest migrants who enter Texas illegally, and it also allowed local judges to order the deportation of these migrants out of the country. | |
| And the state-level border security bill, it just added to the steps that the Texas government was already implementing to stop what they refer to as an invasion. | |
| They've taken over Shelby Park near Eagle Pass, and they blocked federal agents from having access to the park. | |
| They set up large barricades. | |
| And also, the state of Texas has been setting up razor wire on the border with Mexico in order to stop illegal crossings. | |
| And the razor wire in particular has proven to be very effective. | |
| For instance, this video right here was taken by one of our reporters at the border, and it shows a migrant from Guatemala who crossed the river. | |
| But because of the razor wire, his only option was to either go back to Mexico or to head upstream and try a different spot without barbed wire to cross, which is exactly what he wound up doing. | |
| That just goes to show that the barbed wire is effective. | |
| Now, all these actions fall under the broad umbrella of something known as Operation Lone Star. | |
| This plan costs the state of Texas approximately $2 billion per year, and it involves the Texas National Guard apprehending migrants, arresting criminals, seizing drugs, setting up barricades, and so on and so forth. | |
| And here's the thing. | |
| You might assume that the Biden administration would be supportive of what Texas is doing. | |
| Because after all, setting up razor wire on the border will definitely have the effect of stopping illegal crossings. | |
| And since it's the Texas government that's doing it, well, the federal government can even save some money because it's not them footing the bill. | |
| However, you would be wrong. | |
| That's not what they did. | |
| Instead, the Biden administration had their federal officers begin to cut the barbed wire themselves in order to get to the migrants and process them into the country. | |
| And because of this, Mr. | |
| Ken Paxton, who is the Attorney General of Texas, he filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration arguing that the federal agents were cutting this wire in order to help people cross illegally through the river before taking them in for processing. | |
| Here's specifically what Ken Paxton said in a statement alongside his actual lawsuit. | |
| Quote, Now, | |
| Now, the lawsuit itself between the Biden administration and the state of Texas, it's been playing itself out in court for a little while now. | |
| However, in December of last year, meaning one month ago, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an injunction preventing the Biden administration's Border Patrol agents from being able to take down the barriers that Texas was putting up, including the wire fencing. | |
| The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, they did this saying that, quote, the public interest supports clear protections for property rights from federal government intrusion and control, meaning that while the lawsuit was still playing itself out in the courtroom, Texas could continue putting up the razor wire, and the feds were stopped from taking it down. | |
| However, the Biden administration, they appealed that injunction all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that, and this is not a joke, that the barbed wire was stopping federal Border Patrol agents from being able to reach the migrants and help them get into the country. | |
| Specifically, quote, And then, | |
| in their actual written appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, here was exactly what the Biden administration's Solicitor General wrote, quote, Border patrol agents operating under difficult circumstances at the border must make context-dependent, sometimes split-second decisions about how to enforce federal immigration laws while maintaining public safety. | |
| But the injunction prohibits agents from passing through or moving physical obstacles erected by the state that prevent access to the very border they are charged with patrolling and the individuals they are charged with apprehending and inspecting. | |
| And then on top of that, the Biden administration was also making the argument that regardless of anything else, quote, federal immigration law trumps Texas's efforts to send the flow of migrants into the country. | |
| However, on the flip side, the state of Texas, represented by Mr. | |
| Ken Paxton, was arguing that since the federal government was experiencing something like a dereliction of duty, and since they were not securing the border, well, the state of Texas set up razor wire fencing, and that such a thing was well within their rights under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. | |
| These were the two broad arguments. | |
| And after hearing both sides, on Monday of this week, meaning exactly two days ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a split decision against the state of Texas. | |
| Specifically, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the injunction that was in place from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, meaning, in very practical terms, that while the case is still playing itself out in the courtroom, the Biden administration's border agents will be able to remove the razor wire in order to get access to the migrants. | |
| Now, this decision was split 5-4, with Justices Ketanji Brown-Jackson, Alina Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, John Roberts, as well as Amy Coney Barrett all voting against the state of Texas. | |
| The order that they ultimately published on their website was rather brief. | |
| Here is what it said. | |
| Again, this is from the U.S. Supreme Court. | |
| Quote, The application to vacate injunction presented to Justice Alito and by him referred to the court is granted. | |
| The December 19, 2023 order of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is vacated. | |
| Although, as you can see, there was no real justification as to why. | |
| Now, there are some nuances to this particular decision. | |
| Firstly, it removes the injunction that was in place, meaning that while the lawsuit is still playing itself out in court, in the lower court, during this period of time, well, Federal Border Patrol agents will be able to remove the barbed wire. | |
| But secondly, it does not mean that the Texas National Guard won't just continue to add more barbed wire, which is exactly what they're doing. | |
| In fact, our reporter, who is down at the U.S. southern border, she took this video footage right here, showing the Texas National Guard getting ready to install more barbed wire even after the Supreme Court decision. | |
| Now what's happening here? | |
| Sorry. | |
| Hello? | |
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| That's because there is nothing in the Supreme Court order which stops the state of Texas from putting up more barbed wire. | |
| It only allows the feds to take it down if they so wish, which is a phenomenal use of our tax dollars. | |
| Furthermore, just earlier today, Governor Greg Abbott, he took it, you can say, a step further, and he issued this declaration right here, stating that what's taking place at the U.S. southern border is an actual invasion. | |
| And as such, and as due to the lack of response by the Biden administration, it has triggered Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution. | |
| Here's specifically what he wrote in part in this declaration. | |
| Quote, James Madison, | |
| Alexander Hamilton, and other visionaries who wrote the U.S. Constitution foresaw that states should not be left to the mercy of a lawless president who does nothing to stop external threats like cartels smuggling millions of illegal immigrants across the border. | |
| That is why the framers included both Article 4, Section 4, which promises that the federal government shall protect each state against invasion, and Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3, which acknowledges the state's sovereign interest in protecting their borders. | |
| The failure of the Biden administration to fulfill the duties imposed by Article 4, Section 4 has triggered Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3, which reserves to the state the right of self-defense. | |
| For these reasons, I have already declared an invasion under Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3, to invoke Texas's constitutional authority to defend and protect itself. | |
| That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary. | |
| The Texas National Guard, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and other Texas personnel are acting on that authority, as well as state law, to secure the Texas border. | |
| And so, there you have it. | |
| While the Supreme Court ruled against them, the state of Texas is not taking it lying down at all. | |
| They have declared that what's taking place at the southern border... | |
| And in the meantime, we happen to live in a world where the courts say that the National Guard is no longer allowed to guard the nation, and where Border Patrol is no longer patrolling the border. | |
| Although, or rather I should say they are patrolling the border, although they're doing it in order to let people in. | |
| If you'd like to go deeper into this particular story, I'll throw several links down into the description box below this video for you to peruse at your own leisure. | |
| And then also, I'd love to know your thoughts. | |
| As an American taxpayer, how do you feel about our tax dollars being used to put up fencing only for it to be torn down by the feds and then put up again and then tore down again? | |
| And also, how do you feel about the fact that about $451 billion per year is being spent by the federal government to deal with migrants who have entered the country illegally? | |
| Do you think that's a good use of our funds? | |
| Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below. | |
| I'll be reading them later tonight as well into the week. | |
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