Texit – a real life update

Texit – a movement for Texas to reclaim the independence it surrendered in 1845 – again looks more likely than before. Recent actions by the Governor and two Texas State House members make that clear. While those actions do not necessarily reflect on Texit, they show a clear sentiment for action. What begins with “If the federal government won’t do it, we will” can move swiftly to “Who needs them?”

Current Texit articles

Regular readers will recall that CNAV marked the introduction of the Texas Independence Referendum Act (HB 1359) on 26 January. CNAV began with an analysis of things militating for and against Texas independence, then offered a comprehensive war game.

At the time, CNAV concluded that Texas could regain its independence. But such an action would require military action. CNAV still maintains that neither the present President nor Congress would be willing to let Texas go quietly. Nor would the Supreme Court grant any injunction or declaration that Texas could leave. The War Between the States (incidentally the last time Texas tried to break away from the union it joined) is the most powerful countervailing precedent.

Dan Miller of the Texas Nationalist Movement famously does not agree. He still maintains that Texas can go quietly, and indeed the federal government cannot stop it. Certain Texas residents whom your editor has interviewed informally, side with Miller. All want the same thing: for Texas to regain its independence, in order to restore certain individual liberties the American people have lately lost.

Today CNAV re-evaluates the “situation on the ground,” which has changed – radically – since CNAV published its Texit war game.

Progress of the Texit bill

First, in importance if not in chronology, Rep. Kyle Biedermann’s (R-Fredericksburg, Texas) Texas Independence Referendum Act is moving forward. The Texit Times expressed the fear that the Texas legislature was “trying to run out the clock” on the bill. They accused them of “chubbing,” apparently a Texas custom of delaying a bill through procedural folderol, not merely a filibuster. As examples, they cited Governor Greg Abbott declaring six emergencies – which did not include HB 1359.

That accusation came on 19 February. But on 5 March, the Texit Bill got its first reading. That same day, the State House referred it to the Committee on State Affairs. See the history.

Alone, these actions prove nothing. But other actions by the Governor and members of the Legislature provide an instructive, and hopeful, context.

We’ll finish the wall!

Recall that on the day he took office, “President” Joe Biden halted all construction on the wall along the Mexican border. This left several breaches in the wall, through which many “coyotes” have smuggled in illegal aliens.

Some of those breaches lie along the Rio Grande, and that part of it with Texas on its north shore. And that part occasioned this next act.

Rep. Bryan Slaton (R-Canton, Texas) introduced a bill (HB 2862) to finish that part of the wall on the Texas-Mexican border. The bill incidentally renames the Texas part of the border wall “The Donald J. Trump Wall.” It sets up, for the first time, a Border Security Enhancement Fund. The Texas Department of Public Safety—which includes the historically famous Texas Rangers under its aegis—will administer and use the fund. (The Rangers are the chief border-security law-enforcement agency in Texas, in addition to their other duties.)

The Texas DPS will use the fund to:

• Prevent human trafficking and unlawful entry into the United States across the Texas portion of the border,
• Prevent entry by terrorists and smuggling of terrorist weapons, drugs, etc.,
• Build out the wall and other “water and transportation infrastructure” to secure the border and inspect vehicles crossing it, and
• Clear away “non-indigenous plants.”

Texas contractors

The bill also requires the DPS to prefer Texas contractors. This is an eminently sensible measure, because Texas contractors are more likely to remain loyal to the bill’s goals. Texas contractors would also be in the best place to finish their contracts with a Lone Star Republic.

Furthermore, those contractors must take part in the E-verify program to weed out illegal alien workers and applicants.

On the same day Rep. Slaton introduced his bill, Governor Abbott released this retort against those who criticized his decision to open up Texas “100 percent” from SARS-CoV-2-related restrictions.

In it the Governor asked how dared Biden criticize him after releasing detainees with positive SARS-CoV-2 test results.

Nor did he stand alone, even allowing for his being a Republican. Rep. Enrique Roberto “Henry” Cuellar (D-Texas-28th) put in his two centavos also:

I urge the Biden administration to listen and work with the communities on the southern border who are dealing with this influx. Inaction is not an option.

Those, in this climate of globalism and “let them in,” are fighting words. If Rep. Cuellar means them, then he is clearly more Texan than Democrat. That consideration will become paramount as the Texit Bill proceeds to passage.

Not waiting for more wall construction

Nor, evidently, is the Governor willing to wait for a “Donald J. Trump Wall” bill to pass. As long as those breaches remain, illegal immigrants, terrorists, human traffickers, and so on, will slip through them. So the Governor deployed the Texas Rangers – and the Texas National Guard – to the breaches, to defend them.

See also this TV report.

This will inevitably provoke a jurisdictional conflict. Interdicting human traffickers, illegal aliens, and smugglers is a federal activity. Or it is supposed to be. Under the Constitution, the federal government must protect States against invasions. And this kind of influx is an invasion. Not all invaders come in with guns blazing, pillaging and raping and killing as they go. Sometimes they come as nominal civilians, seeking to benefit from American lawful residency without first proving their bona fides.

Nevertheless, expect the federal government to order or enjoin Texas to “cease and desist” from this action. The federals will likely say that Texas is “engaging in war,” a thing “no State shall, without the consent of the Congress,” do. Texas officials can then retort that they are under “actual invasion,” and that “circumstances … will not admit of delay.” Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 spells out these exceptions that let States “engage in war.”

Let the federals take care! If federal courts rule against Texas, Texas can cite that as a failure of federal Constitutional obligation. This “exhaustion of remedy” would pave the way for Texit.

No more masks!

And last: again, Governor Abbott issued an executive order revoking his previous SARS-CoV-2 executive orders as of this Wednesday. On that day, Texas opens for business, “100 percent,” and Texans can take off their masks.

Rep. Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler, Texas) is not satisfied. He has introduced two bills to address the mask subject. HR 2097 would make it unlawful for Gov. Abbott or any successor ever to require masks in public again. And HR 2098 would revoke all penalties for violations of the existing EO. This prohibition enjoins not only State government but counties, cities, towns, and villages as well.

What has this to do with Texit?

Short answer: everything. Long answer: we see here a desire by Texans to reclaim the freedom they have lost. We further see a willingness to fortify an international border after the federal government refuses to fortify it. This last part especially speaks to the obligation of the federal government, under the Constitution, to protect States against invasion. Clearly “President” Biden no longer wants to do that.

CNAV said before that the Presidencies of George W. Bush and Donald J. Trump delayed the Texit movement. Bush is at least nominally a Texan. Trump might as well be a Texan, by being larger than life and demonstrating Texas values. We now have in office a globalist, or the puppet of globalists, who is willfully failing in a Constitutional obligation to the States. Ladies and gentlemen, that constitutes breach of contract. That alone gives Texit a legal authority it would not otherwise have.

More to the point: the Texas Rangers, State Guard, and Ground and Air National Guards can deploy to more than the Rio Grande. They can deploy just as easily to the border with the rest of the United States. We now see Texas demonstrating the military capability it would need to make Texit “stick.” Now Texas must recruit more heavily – and train, organize, and equip for war.

A final word to the people of Texas

Nor should the people of Texas rest complacently. Governor Abbott clearly is currying favor with a people he himself irritated by listening to the medical fearmongers to begin with. He should have followed the example of Kristi Noem (R-S.D.). She declared that she lacked the authority so to act.

Logically, no governor has any such authority to act. That includes Governor Abbott. Rumors already had him facing a “primarying” next year.

So obviously he sought to beat his opponents to the punch. That’s why he not only revoked his EO but also supported Rep. Slaton’s bill. Those go far, but not far enough. The people of Texas must press the matter, and not let their representatives “chub” Texit away, wall or no.

About the image

“The Rio Grande, Texas-Mexico” by tvdflickr is licensed under CC BY 2.0