If you know anything about Joe Biden’s presidency thus far, it’s likely that he’s written a whole swarm of executive orders – more than any other president in history has in such a short time frame. And of those many orders, a large portion of them have been regarding immigration and border security.
Unsurprisingly, every single one has been aimed at undoing all that former President Donald Trump did to secure our borders, particularly our southern border with Mexico.
On day one in office, he halted construction of the famous border wall. He loosened restrictions on who could come in. And Biden has even limited border agencies such as Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on who and how they can arrest and detain those illegally within our borders.
All of this, now entirely in effect, has begun to have a staggering and quite harmful impact on border security. And that’s precisely why some of our southern states are starting to stand up and fight against these orders, or, as is the case with Texas, find a loophole to ensure their citizens’ safety since Biden and his staff don’t seem concerned with that in the least.
Enter Texas state Representative Bryan Slaton and his recently proposed bill.
According to The Blaze, the bill is designed not to defy Biden’s orders but to go around them in a sense. Obviously, Biden isn’t looking to increase security at the border, as he is the very one loosening it. Neither is he willing to pay for moves that would do so, as he has claimed projects like Trump’s border wall are too expensive and cost the American taxpayer too much.
Slaton’s bill would take the responsibility off of the federal government and put it squarely in the states’ hands.
Basically, what it would do is create a fund to pay for “border security enhancement projects.” And as The Blaze’s Daniel Horowitz explains, these funds could even be used to continue construction on Trump’s border wall, should the state move in that direction.
In Texas, that is precisely the plan, should the bill pass.
The state would create a fund for such “enhancements” and then follow through on their construction – whether added fencing, more patrols, or wall construction.
But the best part of the plan is that the state could then get reimbursed by the federal government for such projects. According to the bill, the governor would be required to seek reimbursement from Biden’s administration once the work is complete.
Not a bad idea, huh?
So Biden doesn’t want to build or fund the wall? Well, we’ll just tell him the state is going to do it because they are. But then, Biden will have to have to pay them back.
It’s rather ingenious.
And combined with Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s recent push for increased security, it just might give the state the most secure border system it’s ever seen.
Abbott launched his “Operation Lone Star” this week in response to the ever-growing problems along the state’s border with Mexico, which will deploy both National Guard and Borger Patrol agents to help protect Texas from drug cartels and smugglers.
Problems with cartels and smuggling have increased drastically in recent months, as Biden’s orders have gone into effect.
As Arizona’s Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels told The Washington Times recently, it started on day one of Biden’s presidency when he decided to stop constructing the wall.
As you well know, Trump began construction of the wall in 2017, and teams did well to build 453 miles of new fencing, with 373 of that being replacement fencing and 80 being brand new fencing. To do this, construction crews put in a road for easy access.
But when construction stopped and crews left, the road was left intact, basically creating a highway for drugs and human smugglers to make their way into the US.
Dannels says, “We just built roads for the cartels.”
And that’s only a portion of the problem.
In some areas, crews had begun to take down old fencing but hadn’t had the time to put up new before Biden halted their work. What stands now is literally nothing. Dannels explains some stretches along the border with nothing to stop the masses of illegals from coming in.
And when I say masses, Dannels border security cameras count about 3,000 illegals coming in a month, with Border Patrol being able to catch only about 35% of them.
Plus, once they’re in, they are pretty much here to stay, thanks to Biden.
With his other new orders in effect, agencies like ICE can only arrest and deport the worst of the worst, leaving thousands to pretty much legally be here illegally – even if they have criminal records.
In conclusion, let’s just pray Slaton’s bill is passed by Texas legislation and can start working to correct some of these errors, at least in their state.