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. § 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.