By: Perry, et al. S.R. No. 539

SENATE 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 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, In fiscal year 2021, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports over 172,000 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 then 750 percent this fiscal year; and

WHEREAS, In fiscal year 2021, the U.S. Border Patrol has already arrested more than 5,800 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 invasion of 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 of border patrol agents and the deployment of National Guard troops; 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 inability 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, 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 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 Senate of 87th Texas Legislature 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. § 1189; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That the Texas Senate hereby find that the State of Texas has been invaded by foreign drug cartels and that the citizens of this state are in danger of irreparable harm; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That the Texas Senate 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 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.