(LibertySociety.com) – Illegal migrant apprehensions in Eagle Pass, Texas, near Shelby Park, have all but disappeared since Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott cordoned off the highly trafficked area in January. In early February, Abbott told Fox News that before the state installed the barriers, nearly 4,000 people were crossing into the state every day. He said that the new average was three people per day. On February 10, Texas State Troopers apprehended 15 illegal migrants who crossed into the state just outside of Shelby Park. They were arrested and booked in a state facility while waiting for their court dates.
Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson Lieutenant Chris Olivarez posted about the arrests on X, formerly Twitter, noting that the illegal migrants were from El Salvador and Nicaragua. Texas state law allows for the arrest and imprisonment of illegal migrants instead of handing them over to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The legal battle between Abbott and the Biden administration is still held up in court. In the interim, the Supreme Court ruled that CBP could remove the barriers installed by Texas if necessary to assist the illegal migrants. However, Abbott responded to the ruling by invoking the United States Constitution’s invasion clause as justification for his continued actions to protect the border of Texas.
Governor Abbott published an opinion piece in the New York Post on February 18, defending his stance. He argued that Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 granted the states the right to secure their own borders. He cited Founding Father James Madison’s emphasis on the clause to allow the state militia of Virginia “to be called forth to suppress smugglers.” Abbott compared the current situation in Texas to that of Virginia, particularly because of the Mexican drug cartel activity that operates along the border. Abbott concluded his op-ed by reassuring readers that Texas would continue to defend the state and the nation from the dangers at the border “as long as we must.”
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