87S20005 KSM-F
By: Perry, et al. S.C.R. No. 3
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The State of Texas and the United States federal
government are charged with protecting 1,254 miles of land along
Texas' border with Mexico, a job that has become increasingly
violent as this state has succumbed to a foreign drug
cartel-facilitated invasion; and
WHEREAS, These foreign drug cartels bring terror to Texas
communities by flooding the streets with deadly narcotics, forcing
women and children into human and sex trafficking, enriching
themselves on the misery and enslavement of Texans, and butchering
and murdering anyone who tries to stop them; and
WHEREAS, In fiscal year 2021, U.S. Customs and Border
Protection reports over 200,000 pounds of illegal narcotics have
been seized from foreign drug cartels in Texas; and
WHEREAS, Specifically, federal seizures of fentanyl in Texas
have dramatically increased by more than 950 percent this fiscal
year; and
WHEREAS, In fiscal year 2021, the U.S. Border Patrol has
already arrested more than 7,800 noncitizens that were determined
to have prior criminal records; and
WHEREAS, The Office of the Texas Attorney General estimates
that there are 234,000 victims of labor trafficking and 79,000
victims of youth and minor sex trafficking at any given time in
Texas; and
WHEREAS, State and local law enforcement agencies are forced
to contend with extensive and dangerous criminal activity resulting
from, or associated with, foreign drug cartels, thereby putting
Texas law enforcement officials in danger and draining resources
away from protecting our communities; and
WHEREAS, The State of Texas has attempted to address the
problem by adding hundreds of commissioned law enforcement officers
to the border, purchasing state-of-the-art helicopters, conducting
border security surge operations, and paying millions of dollars
for overtime, training, equipment, and technology for local law
enforcement; and
WHEREAS, Law enforcement agencies working together in Texas
have seized billions of dollars in illegal drugs and hundreds of
millions in cash, along with thousands of firearms and weapons, all
related to the foreign drug cartel-facilitated invasion; and
WHEREAS, Texas has repeatedly asked the federal government to
send more border security resources to the state, requesting an
increase in manpower of border patrol agents and the deployment of
National Guard troops; and
WHEREAS, Texas prisons house thousands of violent offenders
that claim foreign citizenship, and the state bears the cost of
housing and prosecuting those offenders; and
WHEREAS, Texas taxpayers have spent billions compensating
for the lack of federal resources provided to the state; and
WHEREAS, The unwillingness of the federal government to
develop a comprehensive plan that would address this border
security problem puts an unfair and unreasonable burden on the
entire state, but in particular on Texas border communities; and
WHEREAS, The federal government has failed to protect the
State of Texas from this foreign drug cartel-facilitated invasion
as required by Article IV, Section 4 of the United States
Constitution; and
WHEREAS, Under Article I, Section 10 of the United States
Constitution, Texas is entitled as a sovereign state of the United
States of America to protect itself against this current foreign
drug cartel-facilitated invasion, which grants the State of Texas
the power to defend the state when the state has been invaded, or is
"in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay"; now,
therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 87th Legislature of the State of Texas,
2nd Called Session, hereby respectfully request the federal
government to immediately declare violent foreign drug cartels as
foreign terrorist organizations under Section 219 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. ยง 1189; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas Legislature hereby find that foreign
drug cartels have facilitated an invasion of the State of Texas and
that the citizens of this state are in danger of irreparable harm;
and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas Legislature hereby encourage the
Texas Military Department and all applicable state resources as
needed to use any and all authority under Article I, Section 10 of
the United States Constitution to repel this violent foreign drug
cartel-facilitated invasion, and that such authority should be
invoked as the authorization for use of military force with the
intention of utilizing such authority in the least lethal manner
possible consistent with bringing this facilitated invasion to a
conclusion at the earliest possible moment.