Texas\u202fhas\u202fseen\u202ffirsthand\u202fthe\u202fconsequences\u202fof\u202fa\u202ffederal\u202fgovernment\u202fthat\u202ffails\u202fto secure the border and defend its citizens.<\/p>\n
For four years, the Biden administration\u2019s open-border policies placed extraordinary\u202fstrain\u202fon\u202four state.\u202fMillions\u202fof\u202fillegal\u202fimmigrants\u202fpoured\u202facross\u202four border, drug and human trafficking surged, and communities across Texas were ravaged \u2013 straining law enforcement, public services and local resources.<\/p>\n
When Texas stepped up to protect its citizens, the federal government\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0just fail to help \u2013 it actively stood in the way. The Biden Department of Justice repeatedly sued Texas for\u00a0taking action to secure\u00a0the border and enforce the law,\u00a0forcing\u202four\u202fstate\u202fto\u202fshoulder\u202fthe\u202fburden\u202fof\u202fa\u202fcrisis\u202fit\u202fdid\u202fnot create.\u202fThis\u202fdereliction of duty at the federal level cost Texas taxpayers more than\u00a0$11 billion\u00a0through Operation Lone Star.<\/p>\n
Today, under President Trump\u2019s leadership, order has been restored. Border crossings\u202fare\u202fat\u202fhistoric lows,\u202fand\u202fthe\u202ffederal\u202fgovernment\u202fis\u202fonce\u202fagain\u202ffulfilling its primary duty to provide for the common defense.<\/p>\n
But the security of our border and the safety of our communities cannot depend solely\u202fon\u202fwho occupies\u202fthe\u202fWhite\u202fHouse.\u202fFortunately,\u202fthe\u202fConstitution\u202fprovides\u202fa remedy that ensures states are not left defenseless if and when future administrations attempt to return us to open-border policies.<\/p>\n
Congress\u202fnow\u202fhas\u202fa\u202fcritical\u202fopportunity\u202fto\u202fassert\u202fthis\u202ffact.<\/p>\n
Article IV, Section 4 is clear that it is the responsibility of the federal government to \u201cprotect each [state] against invasion.\u201d But the founders also recognized that this duty might not always be fulfilled. That is why Article I, Section\u202f10\u202fpreserves\u202fthe\u202fsovereign\u202fauthority\u202fof\u202fstates\u202fto\u202fact in\u202fself-defense\u202fwhen they are \u201cactually invaded\u201d or \u201cin such imminent Danger as will not admit of\u202fdelay.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u202fdoes\u202fthis\u202fmean?\u202fStates\u202fdo\u202fnot\u202fhave\u202fto\u202fbe\u202fpassive\u202fvictims\u202fof\u202fa\u202ffailed\u202ffederal\u202fgovernment.<\/p>\n
House\u00a0Resolution\u00a050,\u202fauthored\u202fby\u202fU.S.\u00a0Rep.\u202fJodey\u202fArrington,\u00a0R-Lubbock,\u00a0\u202fand\u202fendorsed\u202fby\u202fevery\u202fTexas Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, affirms what the Constitution already provides and clarifies\u00a0the law around\u00a0when states may exercise their authority to act in self-defense. It does not expand state power or create new\u00a0law. It provides critically needed clarity.\u00a0Specifically, the\u00a0resolution makes clear that border states experienced such a surge in lawlessness from an insecure border that it\u00a0constituted\u00a0an imminent danger to our states,\u00a0cities\u00a0and communities.<\/p>\n
Biden-era legal challenges exposed how ambiguity can be used to block states from\u202fdefending themselves.\u202fCourts\u202fwill\u202fultimately\u202fbe\u202fasked\u202fto\u202fresolve\u202fthis\u202fissue. When they do, they will look to Congress for guidance on what constitutes an invasion or imminent danger.<\/p>\n
Without\u202fthat\u202fguidance,\u202fstates\u202flike\u202fTexas\u202fwill\u202fface\u202fthe\u202fsame\u202funcertainty\u202fin\u202ffuture legal battles against administrations that\u00a0seek\u00a0to reverse strong border policies.<\/p>\n
Passing House Resolution 50 will reaffirm the constitutional balance between the federal government\u202fand\u202fthe states\u202fand\u202fensure\u202fthat\u202fTexas\u202fis\u202fnever\u202fagain\u202fforced\u202fto\u202fbear\u202fthe consequences of Washington\u2019s failures without the ability to fully defend its\u202fcommunities.<\/p>\n
Congress\u202fhas\u202fboth\u202fthe\u202fopportunity\u202fand\u202fthe\u202fresponsibility\u202fto\u202fact\u202fnow.<\/p>\n
This op-ed is submitted by the Texas GOP Caucus, representing Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives from the State of Texas, including Reps. Nathaniel Moran (TX-01), Dan Crenshaw (TX-02), Keith Self (TX-03), Pat Fallon\u202f(TX-04),\u202fLance\u202fGooden\u202f(TX-05),\u202fJake\u202fEllzey\u202f(TX-06),\u202fMorgan\u202fLuttrell\u202f(TX-08), Michael McCaul (TX-10), August Pfluger (TX-11), Craig Goldman (TX-12), Ronny Jackson (TX-13), Randy Weber (TX-14), Monica De La Cruz (TX-15),\u202fJodey Arrington (TX-19), Chip Roy (TX-21), Troy Nehls (TX-22), Beth Van Duyne (TX-24), Roger Williams (TX-25), Brandon Gill (TX-26), Michael Cloud (TX-27), John Carter (TX-31), and Brian Babin (TX-36).<\/p>\n
Have thoughts about this? Send a letter to the editor using our letters form<\/a> or email letters@dallasnews.com<\/a>. Letters should be no more than 200 words and include the first and last name of the writer and city of residence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texas\u202fhas\u202fseen\u202ffirsthand\u202fthe\u202fconsequences\u202fof\u202fa\u202ffederal\u202fgovernment\u202fthat\u202ffails\u202fto secure the border and defend its citizens. For four years, the Biden administration\u2019s open-border policies placed extraordinary\u202fstrain\u202fon\u202four…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290869,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-290868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}