The federal government refuses to act on President Joe Biden’s border disaster. But, thankfully, local government is ready, willing and able to do so.
Four Texas counties — Atascosa, Kinney, La Salle and Goliad — declared states of disaster on April 21 and 22 in response to the growing illegal immigration crisis, using almost identical language to convey that “the health, life, and property” of their respective residents is under “imminent threat.”
The Kinney declaration reads, “The ongoing border crisis has resulted in thousands of illegal aliens invading Kinney County and overwhelming our local, state, and federal law enforcement.”
“This continual violation of our sovereignty and territorial integrity has resulted in residents of Kinney County being assaulted, threatened with violence, and robbed, while also sustaining vast amounts of property damage.”
Similar language was used in all four declarations, signifying a unity between the counties against this deluge that, frankly, the federal government will not match.
Every declaration also requested that Republican Gov. Greg Abbott deploy additional Texas National Guardsmen to their counties in order to combat the ongoing crisis. Abbott has already begun to deploy military forces to the border under Operation Lone Star, which plans to fight the current immigration flood.
While Abbott has not yet declared a state of emergency in Texas, the governor asked on Monday that county judges send him a “full and accurate” estimate of the financial impact Biden’s border crisis has pushed on their communities, so he can personally bill the federal government, according to The Epoch Times.
Goliad County Judge Mike Bennett, who signed his county’s declaration, reportedly anticipates a majority of Texas’ 254 counties to follow in his footsteps.
The outlet reported that during a public meeting in Houston last week, Bennett said the border crisis is absorbing almost all of the resources that small counties like his have.
“This needs to be addressed at the source — which is our border — and that’s what we’re hoping our governor will do,” Bennett said.
The judge is absolutely right. As The Times reported, over 76,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended by Border Patrol in the first two weeks of April — close to the entire month of January’s statistics, based on Customs and Border Protection data. In March, 172,331 immigrants were encountered by Border Patrol — more than 18,000 of which were unaccompanied minors.
This is the border crisis these counties are facing the effects of, and unless the government stems the flood, Americans will continue to incur the damage.
Goliad County Sheriff Roy Boyd told The Times that the federal government’s actions in the last three months have made him completely lose faith in the administration.
“If we’re not going to do something about any of this, then we’re not a nation,” Boyd said.
“I’d much rather see the federal government get off their duff and do something about this, but, I’m sorry, I have no faith. It’s going to have to come from the state of Texas. If the state doesn’t do something, it’s all going to be over.”
This is the state of affairs on the southern border — local law enforcement quite literally does not believe the federal government will fulfill its constitutional obligation to protect its constituents from danger.
Meanwhile, one south Texas judge is reportedly taking this idea to the extreme.
According to The Times, Lavaca County Judge Mark Myers, elected in November, spoke at the same meeting Bennett did — and yet his words portray a much more ominous, and much more unforgiving, course of action.
When speaking of several high-speed chases involving illegal immigrants in his county, Myers said, “This all costs taxpayer money, because illegal aliens don’t pay that bill — you do.”
“This is not a sustainable future. We cannot do this.”
He continued, urging the meeting’s attendees to “flood” the telephones of state representatives in Austin, Texas. “The governor needs to act on this, and he needs to treat it as what it is, which is an invasion of our nation,” he said.
“This is an act of war.”
The Biden administration may play games with its disaster, treating the border as Monopoly property and not much else. However, Myers’ words signal that Texas officials are not playing games.
The men and women who truly stand for the protection of their constituents are sick of watching them suffer — and they’re ready to do something about it.
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