(The Center Square) – A total of 53 Texas counties have declared an invasion at the southern U.S. border and expressed support for Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security mission, Operation Lone Star.
The judge and commissioners of Shackelford County in west Texas are the latest to declare an invasion, passing a resolution on Feb. 12.
They did so after their previous judge signed a disaster declaration Oct. 11, 2022, uniquely stating the county was being invaded, citing the same constitutional clauses the county’s new invasion resolution cites. Because former Judge Robert Skelton, who has since retired, declared the county was being invaded, his disaster declaration was previously counted in The Center Square’s invasion resolution count. Shackelford County has now issued both a disaster declaration and declared an invasion, citing the border crisis.
So far, 60 counties have issued disaster declarations saying their residents are in imminent danger because of cartel activity and transnational crime, facilitating smuggling of people and illicit drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, into their counties. Skelton’s disaster declaration appears to be the only one that states the county is under invasion. His resolution also called on the governor to “immediately prevent and/or remove all persons invading the sovereignty of Texas and that of the United States.”
Since Kinney, Goliad and Terrell counties first declared an invasion on July 5, 2022, 53 counties have passed invasion resolutions. Many also issued disaster declarations after Kinney County was the first to do so on April 21, 2021.
Combined, nearly 100 counties have passed disaster declarations or invasion resolutions, or both, since April 2021.
Blanco County officials passed their invasion resolution on Jan. 24, 2023, and residents recently contacted The Center Square to make sure they were included in total counts. The Center Square exclusively has been compiling invasion and disaster declaration counts.
Its resolution, like all the county resolutions, cites the “Compact Clause,” otherwise referred to as the “self-defense clause” or “invasion clause” of the U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3.
The resolutions call for “additional measures to secure the border, stop the invasion at the border and protect our communities,” with Shackelford’s resolution adding “from imminent danger.”
Blanco County’s resolution states that Mexican cartels are exploiting “weak and unsecured borders for their own power and profit to the detriment of our communities. Cartels act as paramilitary narco-terrorist organizations that profit from trafficking people and drugs into the United States.”
Blanco County officials say the border crisis has created “a major health and public safety issue with methamphetamines greatly impacting our communities, our families, our jail, our court system, and our other local resources.”
Under a new judge, John Viertel, Shackelford County’s resolution is the first to cite the Declaration of Independence. It states, “WE THE PEOPLE of Shackelford County are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. To secure these Rights, a well-governed civil society based upon the rule of law is required for prosperity and security.
“Transnational narco-terrorist criminal organizations pose an imminent danger and national security threat in Shackelford County, and within every county in Texas and in the United States.”
It cites the preamble to the United States Constitution, as do all county invasion resolutions, saying it “outlines the chief responsibility of the Federal Government is to ‘insure domestic tranquility’ and ‘provide for the common defense.’”
It cites the “Guarantee Clause” of the Constitution, Article 4, Section 4, which states, “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government and shall protect each of them against invasion,” arguing the federal government has abdicated it responsibility.
Last month, Abbott said the federal government has broken its compact with the states and 25 Republican governors joined him to assert states’ rights to self-defense.
With more than an estimated 11 million people illegally entering the country in the past three years, including the greatest number of suspected terrorists, the federal government has abdicated its responsibility to protect Americans, the counties and Abbott argue.
Citing the Compact Clause of the U.S. Constitution, Shackelford County states Texas has the right to self-defense when “invaded or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.”
It also cites Article IV, Section 7 of the Texas Constitution, which gives the governor authority as commander-in-chief of Texas’ military forces “to call forth the militia to execute the laws of the State, to suppress insurrections, and to repel invasions.”
It also cites OLS apprehension data, including unprecedented arrests and fentanyl seizures, as well as the Texas legislature allocating more than $11.5 billion to border security efforts.
Both Blanco and Shackelford counties’ resolutions state they recognize “our southern Texas border is suffering an invasion and poses imminent danger” and under the U.S. and Texas Constitutions, Texas has a right to self-defense “against invasion and imminent danger, which has been exacerbated by the Federal Government’s failure in meeting its constitutional obligation to ‘insure domestic tranquility,’ ‘provide for the common defense,’ ‘execute the laws,’ and ‘protect each (State) against invasion.’”
They also call on the governor to repel the invasion at the border, “including the actions by paramilitary, narco-terrorist cartels that pose a risk to our communities.”
According to resolutions The Center Square has obtained, 53 counties have declared an invasion: Atascosa, Bandera, Blanco, Burnet, Chambers, Clay, Collin, Crockett, Ector, Edwards, Ellis, Fannin, Franklin, Frio, Goliad, Guadalupe, Hamilton, Hardin, Harrison, Hood, Hunt, Jack, Jasper, Johnson, Karnes, Kinney, La Salle, Lavaca, Leon, Liberty, Live Oak, Madison, McMullen, Medina, Montague, Montgomery, Navarro, Orange, Parker, Presidio, Schleicher, Shackelford, Somervell, Terrell, Throckmorton, Tyler, Uvalde, Van Zandt, Waller, Wharton, Wichita, Wilson and Wise.
