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October 1, 2023
NEWS DIGEST
by Brandon Waltens
Good morning,
With border security making headlines this past week, here are four things every Texan needs to know about the border crisis.
1. The number of illegal crossings is astronomical
Since January of 2021 when Joe Biden took office, over 7 million have crossed the southern border illegally. Some estimates put it over 10 million.
This includes customs and border patrol encounters at the border, those processed at ports of entry, and known got-aways. It also includes CBP’s own 20 percent estimate of unknown got-aways.
For reference, most estimates of the illegal alien population in 2020 were about 14.5 million. That means we are on track to double the illegal alien population in the United States within one four year presidential term.
2. The Texas Legislature failed to act
Despite the fact that border security has been a top issue for Republican voters for years, it may be surprising to learn that the Legislature did nothing to stop this.
There’s no better example of this than what happened to House Bill 20. This bill would have created a Texas Border Protection Unit with the power to repel and remove invaders under an invasion declaration.
House Speaker Dade Phelan sided with Democrats and sustained a point of order on the bill, sending it back to committee past the deadline for bills to be considered. He killed the bill.
It wasn’t the only border security effort that died this session.
Other bills to finish the Texas border wall and mandate e-verify to check the citizenship of workers failed to make it out of the Senate.
All these issues could be addressed in an upcoming special session on border security.
3. Texas has magnets that attract illegal aliens
Yes, Texas—the state with the largest border with Mexico—has policies in place that attract illegal aliens to our state.
One example? In-state tuition.
For more than 20 years, illegal aliens living in Texas have been allowed to attend public universities and pay “in-state tuition,” a discounted rate otherwise reserved for Texas citizens.
The benefit has been criticized for being a magnet that attracts illegal aliens to the state at the expense of American citizens.
A recent poll of Republican voters in Texas found that 75 percent said they would support eliminating in-state tuition for illegal aliens, while the Republican Party of Texas’ platform also calls for an end to the practice.
Legislation to end in-state tuition for illegal aliens by Rep. Terri Leo Wilson was refused a hearing by House Higher Education Committee Chair John Kuempel.
Not a single bill to end in-state tution for illegal aliens was even filed in the Senate.
4. Border Security advocates say Gov. Greg Abbott could stop it
At a recent speech at the Fredericksburg Tea Party’s annual fundraiser recently, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk said Gov. Greg Abbott could stop the border invasion immediately if he wanted to.
Texans for Strong Borders, a group that has been following the border crisis closely, agrees. They have noted that, although Abbott has said he has declared an invasion pursuant to Article I, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution, he has not actually exercised the extraordinary powers given to states to repel the invasion.
Under such a declaration Gov. Abbott could physically repel illegal crossings with state personnel, as opposed to just placing barriers that—as we’ve seen—have gotten cut down by Border Patrol. Most importantly, he could also send those that do manage to come across back to Mexico, instead of giving them to Border Patrol where they get processed and sent into our country and never seen again.
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Expect border security to be a major issue in the weeks ahead, as Gov. Abbott has indicated it will be part of a special legislative session beginning next week.
Featured
As the border crisis intensifies, Texans are turning attention to an illegal alien housing development called Colony Ridge, which is situated just north of Houston in Liberty County.
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Quoting...
"When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat."
- Ronald Reagan
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