Officials from a Texas county bordering Mexico are calling on Gov. Greg Abbott to convene a special session to reconsider a bill establishing a Texas division of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Kinney County Judge John Paul Schuster, County Attorney Brent Smith, and Sheriff Brad Coe wrote an April 16 letter to the Texas governor voicing their concerns over drugs and transnational criminals flooding into Texas under President Joe Biden’s border policies.
While praising the Republican governor’s efforts to protect the state’s citizens and sovereignty, the county officials asked him to do more by getting the state Legislature together to create a Texas DHS.
Texas has spent more than $4.5 billion for the governor’s Operation Lone Star program since 2021, and lawmakers allocated another $5.1 billion in 2023. The program pays for more Texas troopers and National Guard members at the border as well as the prosecution and jailing of illegal immigrants, primarily for trespassing and evading arrest.
Now, Kinney County officials are urging the governor to call another special session in hopes of getting the bill across the finish line.
“We as Texans no longer feel safe in our own homes, driving on our streets, or walking in our parks,” the letter states.
The officials noted that under Mr. Abbott’s leadership, 25 governors from other states have pledged support and assistance to help secure the 1,254 miles of the Texas–Mexico border.
A Texas division of DHS could coordinate law enforcement efforts more efficiently under a single agency, they contended.
“Texans have never backed down from a fight, and we will not start now. For more than 180 years, we have fought with our blood, sweat, tears, and resources to defend our home,” they wrote.
Kinney County has prosecuted the highest number of illegal immigrants for trespass and related misdemeanors under Operation Lone Star. In 2019 and 2020, the county dealt with 254 and 132 misdemeanor cases, respectively, mostly involving U.S. citizens. While the U.S. citizen case load has remained somewhat constant, because of illegal immigration, the total number of misdemeanor cases shot up to 6,799 in 2022 and 5,826 in 2023, according to numbers obtained from the county attorney’s office.
More than 55 Texas counties have declared an “invasion,” and 60 have issued disaster declarations because of crises along the border, where Border Patrol agents have encountered more than 9 million illegal aliens nationwide since 2021.
HB 127 would allow a Texas division of DHS to be in charge of coordinating Texas’s efforts to secure its border with Mexico.
The division would have the power to “deter and repel persons attempting to enter [Texas] unlawfully at locations other than ports of entry,” according to the bill.
It would authorize the “return of aliens to Mexico” observed crossing the U.S.–Mexico border illegally when apprehended near the border in Texas.
Duties would include preventing human smuggling and drug trafficking through “examination of aircraft, ships, vehicles, railcars, and cargo at or near port of entry.”
Policies and rules of the division would be subject to approval by the Texas governor. Former military and Border Patrol agents would be eligible to serve in the division.
Mr. Guillen, the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee, told The Epoch Times in a statement that passing HB 127 or HB 13 would be the next logical step in effectively managing the border crisis.
“Having reduced the number of illegal crossings into Texas since 2021 by 71.6 percent, Texas is leading and succeeding in securing our southern border despite the federal government’s best efforts to stifle us,” he said.
Mr. Guillen’s bills took a backseat to Senate Bill 4, which passed during the fourth special session.
SB 4, signed into law by Mr. Abbott in December 2023, was scheduled to go into effect on March 5 but was put on hold after left-wing nonprofit organizations and the Biden administration sued. The law makes it a state crime to enter Texas outside legal ports of entry.
Illegal immigrants can be arrested on Class B misdemeanor charges and sentenced to up to six months in jail under SB 4. However, repeat offenders could face second-degree felony charges and sentences of up to 20 years in prison.
Judges are granted leeway under the new Texas law to drop the charges if the illegal immigrants agree to return to Mexico.
The U.S. Supreme Court briefly allowed the law to go into effect after sending it back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
The appeals court then halted enforcement while it considered the latest appeal.
The idea of Texas having the right to secure its border with Mexico from illegal immigrants remains popular with Republicans.
GOP voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 2 by 91 percent on March 5.
Proposition 2 asked if Texas should create a “Border Protection Unit” and deploy additional state law enforcement and military forces to seal the border, use physical force to prevent illegal entry and trafficking, and deport illegal aliens to Mexico or their nation of origin.
Mr. Abbott’s efforts to secure the border have put Texas on the frontline of the political issue.
He made headlines in January when Texas National Guard members seized Shelby Park and placed a wire gate at the entrance, blocking U.S. Border Patrol agents from entering.
The 47-acre park, owned by the city of Eagle Pass, was being used as a staging area for Border Patrol agents under the direction of the Biden administration to process a wave of thousands of illegal immigrants crossing the Rio Grande in December 2023.
Mr. Abbott has directed the placement of shipping containers and razor wire along the Texas side of the border.
If illegal immigrants get past the razor wire, the Texas Department of Public Safety charges them with trespassing. Families with children are turned over directly to Border Patrol.
The governor’s office didn’t respond by press time to a request for comment on a special session.
