Former Trump administration officials are pushing Texas Governor Greg Abbott to declare an “invasion” along the US/Mexico border and give thousands of state police and National Guard members new authority to push migrants back by force.
The news comes as the Republican governor prepares to announce “unprecedented actions” to deter immigrants from coming to Texas. And it is a response to the Biden administration’s announcement that it will end a public health law that limits asylum in the name of preventing the spread of COVID-19.
It’s unclear whether Abbott, who is running for re-election in November and is already putting up more border barriers and allowing troops to arrest immigrants on trespassing charges, supports the proposals being pushed by former Trump officials.
Border Patrol members are anticipating up to 18,000 daily arrivals once the health policy, known as Title 42, expires in May.
Last week, some 7,100 migrants arrived daily at the southern border of the United States. But as former Trump immigration officials see it, Texas and Arizona can pick up where the federal government leaves off once the policy ends.
His plan involves a novel interpretation of the US Constitution so that the National Guard or state police forcibly send migrants back to Mexico without regard to immigration laws and law enforcement procedures.
Tom Homan, a former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement under Trump, told a border security conference in San Antonio that he had talked to Abbott about the idea. “We have had discussions with his lawyers in his office. Is there a way to use this clause within the Constitution where it talks about invasion?” Homan said.
In Arizona, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey has also been under pressure from his party to declare that the state is being invaded so he can use extraordinary powers normally reserved for war. But Ducey, who is term-limited and not on the 2022 ballot, has not bought into the idea and has avoided commenting on it.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, issued a legal opinion in February stating that Ducey has the power to use National Guard troops and state law enforcement to send immigrants back to Mexico. Brnovich is locked in a tough Republican US Senate primary in which border security is a major issue.
Driving the right-wing effort is the Center for Renewing America, a conservative policy think tank run by former Trump administration officials.
While speaking Tuesday on a conservative radio station, Abbott’s comments about constitutional authority were related to Congress. “Congress has to stop talking about it, it has to stop complaining, it has to go to the border and look at it. Congress has to take action, just like Texas is taking action.”
Border enforcement has always been a federal responsibility. According to experts, the concept is legally dubious, almost unprecedented, and almost certain to face swift legal challenges.
