By: Kolkhorst S.C.R. No. 23
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The State of Texas and the United States federal
government have 1,254 miles of land to protect along Texas' border
with Mexico, a job that has become increasingly violent as this
state has been subjected to an invasion by foreign drug cartels; 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, 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 acted 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 other
weapons, all related to the invasion of foreign drug cartels; and
WHEREAS, Texas has repeatedly asked the federal government to
send more border security resources to the state, requesting an
increase in manpower and authority for border patrol agents and
other federal personnel; and
WHEREAS, Texas prisons house 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 federal government's failure to develop a
comprehensive plan to address this border security problem puts an
unfair and unreasonable burden on the entire state, especially on
Texas border communities, in violation of Article IV, Section 4 of
the United States Constitution; and
WHEREAS, Under Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 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 invasion; this constitutional authority 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"; and
WHEREAS, The governor, in a letter to the president of the
United States on November 16, 2022, invoked the authority under
Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution, to protect
the State of Texas; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 88th Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby demand 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 the
State of Texas has been invaded by foreign drug cartels and that the
citizens of this state are in imminent danger of irreparable harm;
and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas Legislature hereby encourage all
applicable state and local resources as needed, to use any and all
authority under Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 of the United States
Constitution to repel this violent foreign drug cartel invasion,
and that such authority should be invoked with the intention of
utilizing such authority in the most peaceful manner possible
consistent with bringing this invasion to a conclusion at the
earliest possible moment.