Texas Gov. Abbott invokes Invasion Clause to defend the state against illegal immigration

AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills

On Tuesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott authorized the state to take "unprecedented measures to defend our state against an invasion." The move comes amid the ongoing border crisis, which has seen over two million illegal entries since the start of the year.

With the Biden administration either unable or refusing to control the situation, the Texas governor invoked his constitutional authority and executive orders to secure the border. 

Under the state’s Invasion Clauses of the U.S. and Texas Constitutions, Abbott used his authority to deploy the National Guard to "safeguard our border & to repel & turn back immigrants trying to cross the border illegally," and "deploy the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to arrest & return to the border immigrants who crossed illegally & deploy DPS to arrest illegal immigrants for criminal activity."

Additionally, the authorization calls for the construction of a border wall in multiple counties along the border, deploy gun boats, and designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

Furthermore, the authorization will enable Texas to enter into a compact with other states to secure the border, and form independent agreements with foreign countries such as Mexico to enhance border security.

Finally, the authorization will provide state resources for border counties to increase their efforts to repel illegal immigrants. 

I invoked the Invasion Clauses of the U.S. & Texas Constitutions to fully authorize Texas to take unprecedented measures to defend our state against an invasion.

I'm using that constitutional authority, & other authorization & Executive Orders to keep our state & country safe: pic.twitter.com/2Jt5HEMgp5

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) November 15, 2022