US-MEXICO BORDER - Let’s call this a tale of two border states–Arizona and Texas. Both states have been overrun with illegal “immigrants” over the past three years, courtesy of a feckless Biden administration, which has done everything but put up a “Welcome” sign at the southern border.
As a result, nearly ten million illegal “immigrants” have entered the United States, including some who are gang members, drug dealers, career criminals, and even a few individuals on terror watch lists.
Finally, Texas and Arizona have had enough. In something of a bipartisan response to Biden’s failure to close the spigot, both states are taking action to do something. The approaches, however, are far different, with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, taking decisive action against the illegals who are inundating the Lonestar State.
Meanwhile, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) is doing something, but by all accounts, her action will do little to stem the tide of criminal illegals entering her state.
In the case of Hobbs, she announced an executive order last week whereby she is deploying the Arizona National Guard to the border to help federal officials there, according to American Military News.
“Yet again, the federal government is refusing to do its job to secure our border and keep our communities safe. With this Executive Order, I am taking action where the federal government won’t,” Hobbs said.
To give Hobbs credit, at least she is trying to do something to protect her state’s residents. He didn’t hold back in holding Joe Biden and his cadre of socialist flunkies to task about their abject failure to stop the invasion of our country, accusing the administration of refusing to “deliver desperately needed resources” to the Arizona/Mexico border,” despite “continued requests for assistance” from the federal government.
“We can’t stand alone,” Hobbs explained. “Arizona needs resources and manpower to reopen the Lakeville crossing, manage the flow of migrants, and maintain a secure, orderly, and humane border.”
So Hobbs plans to use the National Guard to “reopen the Lakeville crossing” and “manage the flow of migrants” into the country. She is apparently not interested in stopping the flow of migrants into Arizona.
And that is where she goes in a different direction than Gov. Abbott.
The New York Post reports that this week, Abbott signed a new law that gives law enforcement officers in Texas the power to arrest anyone suspected of entering the country illegally. In other words, don’t mess with Texas!
In the case of Texas, the measure cannot come a minute too soon. This past Sunday into Monday, thousands of illegal “immigrants” entered Texas, with photos showing them in Customs and Border Protection custody at Eagle Pass, Texas.
Moreover, Texas halted two train crossings from Mexico into Eagle Pass and El Paso at 8 a.m. Monday, routes where thousands of illegals have been using trains to cross into the U.S illegally.
The new law, SB4, makes illegally entering the United States into Texas a state crime. Anyone arrested under the law has a choice: follow a judge’s order and leave the country, or face prosecution and be subject to either jail or a $2000 fine. Repeat offenders would be charged with a felony.
After signing the measure in Brownsville, Texas, Abbott said:
“[Law enforcement officers] are seeing with their own eyes people who are violating the law, and now they’re going to have the ability to arrest them, prosecute them, make them subject to jail, make them subject to being sent back, and make them subject to even greater penalties if they dare come into Texas a second time.”
The law is scheduled to take effect in March. Still, as sure as everyone faces death and taxes, it is expected to face legal challenges before taking effect, especially by the radical Biden Justice Department, since immigration enforcement is allegedly a federal responsibility.
Last November, Abbott sent a letter to Biden alleging the State of Texas had faced an invasion and, as such, since the federal government wasn’t doing its job, Texas had the right to defend itself from what amounted to a foreign invasion:
The U.S. Constitution won ratification by promising the States, in Article IV, § 4, that the federal government “shall protect each of them against invasion.” By refusing to enforce the immigration laws enacted by Congress, including 8 U.S.C. 1325(a)(1)’s criminal prohibition against aliens entering the United States between authorized ports of entry, your Administration has made clear that it will not honor that guarantee. The federal government’s failure has forced me to invoke Article I, § 10, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution, thereby enabling the State of Texas to protect its own territory against invasion by the Mexican drug cartels.
The photos published earlier this week showed approximately 2,000 illegals gathered in a column at Eagle Pass, waiting to be processed through the border. That was just a small portion of tens of thousands who have arrived at the border this month, far surpassing the number seen last month by an estimated 30,000 additional encounters.
The Post wrote that as of December 17, CBP recorded 167,000 encounters with illegals compared to 130,000 in the first 17 days of November, according to figures obtained by NewsNation.
It wasn’t known if the surge in Eagle Pass was related to the railroad crossing closures.
The railroad has become a desirable method for illegals hoping to cover large areas of ground faster and easier than they can on foot. Others have smuggled themselves aboard trains close to the border to sneak into the U.S.
The Post reported that days ago, footage emerged showing hundreds of illegals lining railroad tracks outside Eagle Pass, hoping for a chance to jump aboard a passing train. The problem has been so pervasive with foreigners and Mexican citizens trying to jump aboard trains in that country that the country’s leading rail line, Ferromax, suspended operations on some lines back in September.
“After observing a recent resurgence of smuggling organizations moving migrants through Mexico via freight trains, CBP is taking additional actions to surge personnel and address this concerning development, including in partnership with Mexican authorities,” CBP said in a statement.
Earlier this month, CBP shut down four major road ports of entry on the southern border from California, Arizona, and Texas at Eagle Pass. Despite that, illegals continue to pour into the country.
Meanwhile, in Arizona, Hobbs’ office said the National Guard will be activated at “multiple locations,” AMN noted, including the San Miguel crossing and the Lukeville Port of Entry. Guard members are expected to assist with law enforcement operations such as seizing illegal drugs at the border and efforts to address human trafficking.
The governor’s office said the Biden administration had yet to respond to Hobbs’s request that the state be reimbursed for its increased border security spending.
Comments
2023-12-23T18:06-0600 | Comment by: Rocco
What else would you expect from Katie Hobbs, she is a democrat! All she sees is a huge influx of future democrat voters. Our dufus Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas came out and said it plain as day. He said they have been waiting thirty years for an event like this. Meaning we will have to give all the illegal aliens in the country amnesty and make them all US voting citizens. The twelve million that were already here and the eight to ten million that have come across the border in the last three years. Rest assured that Republicans will never win an election higher than dog catcher for as long as anyone can see. One party rule will allow the left to install a new form of government, and we all know what that will be.