Texas Gov. Orders National Guard to Arrest Illegal Aliens and Return Them to Border

(CNS News) – Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbot signed an executive order today empowering the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety to arrest any illegal immigrants and return them to the Mexican border at any port of entry.

The operative clause of the executive order reads: “NOW, THEREFORE, I, Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas, by virtue of the power and authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the State of Texas, do hereby authorize and empower the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety to respond to this illegal immigration by apprehending immigrants who cross the border between ports of entry or commit other violations of federal law, and to return those illegal immigrants to the border at a port of entry.”

Abbot justified this response by arguing, among other things, that President Joe Biden has failed to enforce federal immigration laws that mandate the detention of certain immigrants; an insecure border is “a pathway for terrorists”; and the end of the “Remain in Mexico” policy will soon result in increased cartel activity.

The order also explains that Biden has failed to protect Texas from an “invasion” as he is obligated to under Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution, and that the crisis has risen to such a magnitude that Governor Abbot must invoke the Texas Disaster Act of 1975.

A recent United Nations report claiming that the U.S.-Mexico border is the most dangerous land crossing in the world was also cited.

“These unprecedented numbers [of immigrants] are overwhelming local communities across Texas,” the order reads.

Data from the Pew Research Center show that encounters with migrants hit the highest levels on record in fiscal year 2021 with Border Patrol reporting more than 1.6 million encounters. More than a quarter of all migrant encounters were repeat encounters. Between fiscal years 2020 and 2021, migrant encounters more than doubled in every border sector.

In remarks on the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection last month, President Biden said, “We know that safe, orderly, and legal migration is good for all our economies. But we need to halt the dangerous and unlawful ways people are migrating — and the dangerous ways. Unlawful migration is not acceptable, and we’ll secure our borders, including through innovative, coordinated actions with our regional partners.”

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