Abbott authorizes arrest of illegal migrants

Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas), facing a lawsuit over his placement of a riparian barrier to illegal migration, has authorized Texas law-enforcement officers to arrest and detain such migrants as they can catch – on his personal authority as Governor of Texas.

Abbott ratchets it up a notch

Sarah Arnold at Town Hall has the details. Abbott, speaking on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, accused the Biden administration of “welcoming illegal immigrants.” (Emphasis ours.) This has resulted in “high … numbers” of such migrants. But Abbott also asserted that the measures he has so far taken have caused migrants to try to enter elsewhere. The “elsewheres” include Tucson, Arizona; San Diego, California; and presumably the boot of New Mexico. (And even across the Gulf of Mexico and into Florida!) But Texas definitely has the longest crossing area other than a crossing by sea.

Abbott also cited some illegal entrants from communist China and on the terrorist watch list (such as it is).

What the governor has done before

Arnold alluded to the lawsuit Abbott is facing, and the non-cooperation he has had from the federal government. In fact he’s seen worse than non-cooperation. He order the stringing of concertina or “razor” wire on property lines along the northern bank of the Rio Grande. First the Border Patrol cut a hole in it to admit a small party of migrants. (On a later occasion they cut the wire away wholesale.)

After the first wire-cutting incident, Abbott ordered the stringing of ballards (buoys on a string), alternating with metal disks with serrated edges, with nets beneath, anchored at the center of the river, near Eagle Pass, Texas. Eight Texas Democrats sent a letter of protest to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. Their message: take that barrier down! The Mexican government also demanded removal of the barrier, citing Article VII of the Guadalupe-Hidalgo Treaty ending the Mexican War.

The Justice Department demanded removal of the barrier – and Abbott wrote back, “So sue us.” Sue Texas they did, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas (Austin Division). U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts brought in a judge from Hawaii to help with this and other cases that allegedly swamped the Western District. That judge has enjoined Texas to down tools and shift the barrier to the Texas riverbank. The Fifth Circuit has affirmed – but Texas is petitioning for an en banc rehearing.

By what authority?

Abbott has already declared an invasion of his State, and is proceeding under the Invasion Clause of the Constitution.

No State shall, without the consent of Congress,… engage in war, unless actually invaded,… Article I Section 10 Clause 3, relevant part

Under that authority he deployed the Texas National Guard to re-string the concertina wire, and to oppose the migrant streams – and armed drug-cartel parties – with tanks and Armored Personnel Carriers. Tasking Texas law-enforcement agencies with actual arrest of illegal migrants is a fresh escalation.

The Texas Nationalist Movement, which scored a victory in efforts to get a question of Texas secession before voters, has so far refrained from a blow-by-blow response. But Dan Miller, head of TNM, has addressed in principle the failure of the federal government to protect against invasion. (See Article IV Section 4.)

Reaction on the Town Hall comment space is equal parts positive and “what took you?” The latter comments accuse the governor of opportunism and virtue signaling. Notably, the Texit Petition has likely forced the question of Texas secession onto the Republican Primary ballot next year. How this will play out in the context of a presidential election – and the reelection campaign of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) – remains for voters to decide.