TEXAS SIT-REP
BORDER 101 Article and photos contributed by COL Terry Wilson US Army, Retired R-TX20 State Representative for Williamson County
In September, I had an opportunity to visit Eagle Pass — ground Colonel Terry Wilson, center, (USA-Retired) Representative TX-20 zero for the border crisis, alongside Border Czar Mike Banks, and Chairman Ryan Guillen, who leads the House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety.
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s Chairman of the House Committee on Defense & Veterans’ Affairs, it is my duty to witness firsthand the challenges the men and women of our Texas Military Department (TMD) and Department of Public Safety (DPS) face to help secure the Texas border as part of Operation Lone Star.
WHAT IS THE CRISIS AT THE BORDER? The crisis at our southern border is one of dereliction of duty. Eleven years ago, the United States Supreme Court decreed in U.S. v Arizona that only the federal government had the authority to enforce immigration law. The Biden administration twisted this decision to mean that a president can simply ignore immigration laws already passed by Congress, and choose not to enforce the parts of the law he does not like. Operation Lone Star (OLS) was Texas’s initial response to the Biden
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Administration’s refusal to secure our border. Over the last two years, thousands of DPS troopers, with National and State Guards have deployed to the border. Since US v Arizona prevents direct immigration enforcement, OLS has focused on building barriers and installing razor-wire to prevent illegal entry, and working with landowners near the border to enforce criminal trespass and other state laws often broken by those entering the country illegally. Under the orders of President Biden, Federal Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents are neglecting to enforce immigration law by instituting a “catch-and-release” policy. I witnessed CBP agents who could only watch as individuals crossed the Rio Grande, approached the razor wire installed as part of OLS, and proceed to cut the wire to cross the border. The agents took them into custody for processing, and later released them without penalty. Knowing there is no real penalty or chance of deportation, roughly
D E C E M B E R 2023 LIBER T Y HILL D IGES T
6,000 people have illegally crossed the Texas/Mexico border every day since Biden's first day in office, accounting for 3/4 of all illegal border crossings. To put that number into perspective, at the end of last year the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) had the capacity to incarcerate 122,132 people. At the current rate of illegal immigration, arresting, processing, and holding every person crossing the border illegally would require the current resources of our entire criminal justice system every 22 days. Cartels use the chaos as a cover for their drug smuggling and human trafficking operations. Although most of those looking to come to the United States are not involved with drugs or trafficking, the cartels rely on unenforced laws, weakened infrastructure, and overwhelmed personnel. They can operate nearly undetected, without real fear of having their activities curtailed by Texas or U.S. law enforcement.
