Our nation did not have a Border Patrol until 1924. There obviously was no mass migration in the 1800s, but who secured our border against hostile forces or dangerous infiltrations? The Texas Rangers.
A report from the Texas adjutant general to then-Texas Governor John Ireland in September 1884 illuminates the dangers of Mexican raids into Texas and the extensive nature of Texas’ “lone star” approach to dealing with it. The adjutant general paints a picture very similar to the one today, in which the state felt abandoned by the federal government. “For some reason Texas, like many other border States and Territories, was left by the general government without adequate protection against these constantly recurring invasions and raids, and, as a matter of absolute and overpowering necessity, the State had to make some regular and systematic provision for affording protection and giving security, if possible, to her people.”
The document shows the tension between the Texas delegation and federal officials in their quest spanning decades to try to secure adequate reimbursement from the federal government for doing what should have been a federal job. Indeed, as late as 1911, Texas Senator Charles Culberson was demanding reimbursement for Texas Ranger border operations 60 years before!
History doesn’t only repeat itself; it rhymes. But back then our government was still growing in its job. Today, it has regressed to the point of breaking its social compact with the states.
As illegal aliens gathered at our border en masse, daily infiltrations were reaching an unfathomable 12,000 a day. Yet with Texas Rangers, specialized Texas DPS units, and Texas National Guardsmen plugging the gaps in Brownsville, and Gov. Greg Abbott finally agreeing to allow them to return the infiltrators to the other side of the river, the numbers actually shrank.
\u201cI am being told that because of these Texas soldiers at all the previously chaotic Matamoros crossings, immigrants are moving to Piedras Negras to cross at Eagle Pass as an alternative. Worth watching that as, for the first time since I\u2019ve been in town, the river here is placid.\u201d— Todd Bensman (@Todd Bensman)
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\u201cAll quiet on the Matamoros front from the Texas vantage point of this new state tactic that shut down a mass migration onslaught through this sector – using brawn at to enforce a Thou Shalt Not Pass edict from \u2066@GregAbbott_TX\u2069\nhow it went down: https://t.co/VOAnqvl3ZZ\u201d— Todd Bensman (@Todd Bensman)
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\u201cSources tell me there were only about 6,000 apprehensions within CBP at the southwest border yesterday\u2014 4,300+ by Border Patrol and roughly 1,700 by Office of Field Operations (OFO).\n\nAbout 22,500 migrants were in CBP custody at last check this morning.\u201d— Ali Bradley (@Ali Bradley)
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These are still shockingly high numbers, but it shows that in the areas where we actually repatriate the illegal aliens, it makes a huge dent in the invasion. What this demonstrates is that if Texas only had the resources to do this at all of the critical crossings along its 1,200-mile international border, we’d go a long way toward stemming the tide and won’t need to suffer until a possible Republican president takes over in 2025.
In order to fill in the gaps, Gov. Abbott should call upon other Republican governors to send their Guardsmen and other law enforcement assets to help bolster the numbers of Texas law enforcement in repelling the invasion. Gov. Ron DeSantis has already offered such assistance. Idaho has also sent a contingent of state troopers to Texas this week. An effort from at least 20 states would allow us to bypass the feds and to solve a major issue right now without putting all of our hopes into the results of a federal election a long time from now.
State enforcement is the only way to ensure we are blocking the invasion rather than rolling out the red carpet to the cartel boatmen, which is unfortunately what Border Patrol has done. So many in Border Patrol are suffering from low morale because they are now forced to operate in a way that undermines their core mission. If Governor Abbott is now serious about making Texas law enforcement the new Border Patrol, he should offer incentives for current Border Patrol agents operating in Texas to switch teams and join the Texas law enforcement at the border.
This idea, of course, will require more authorities and appropriations. With precious few days left in the legislative session, Abbott needs to lean in on Speaker Dade Phelan to pass HB 20. This bill would create a permanent “Border Protection Unit” and also make it a felony for illegal aliens to trespass into Texas. Unfortunately, that bill was killed in committee last week. House leaders instead performed a bait-and-switch and placed the Border Protection Unit into another bill, but then subjected its authority to the approval of county governments. The problem is that most of the border county governments are run by Democrats, and frankly, some have a history of being in with the cartels.
There is a need for Abbott and Lt. Gov Dan Patrick to step up and demand that this session not end before the creation of a border unit with full authority to repel the invasion. They should also incentivize county governments to deploy resources to repel the invasion as well. Current Texas Code allows the sheriff, county judge, or mayor to “call into service the portion of the reserve militia needed for the period required in case of war, insurrection, invasion or prevention of invasion, suppression of riot, tumult, or breach of peace or to aid civil officers to execute law or serve process.” In other words, we need an all-hands-on-deck approach. The legislature will not meet again until 2025.
This will not be the first time Texas leads the way in defense of the border. This past week demonstrates that Texas personnel are highly effective if given enough resources to repel the invasion. It’s time to make the old adage “don’t mess with Texas” meaningful again.