What Can States Do When Federal Government Does Not Do Its Job?

            The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday concerns the division of powers outlined in the United States Constitution. Under the Constitution, the federal government has certain outlined powers, and the remaining powers and authorities remain with the States or the people of the nation. One of the responsibilities of the national government is to secure the borders of the nation, but the federal government has thrown the borders wide open.

            Texas and other States along the southern border are suffering from the onslaught of thousands and hundreds of thousands who have entered the United States illegally over the past eight months. Within the past week, approximately 15,000 migrants poured into the Del Rio, Texas, area. About 85 percent of the migrants are from Haiti, and they have been massing under the International Bridge at Del Rio. Texas finally said, “No more!” 

            Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced yesterday, September 18, 2021, that the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas National Guard were working together to stop the steady stream of Haitian migrants crossing into the United States. Texans are taking a pro-active stance to do the work that the federal government should do.

The Texas Department of Public Safety is in full force along the border around the Del Rio area. They have built a barricade with their squad cars and State Troopers. The National Guard is working with them to secure the border.   

            Texan agencies are acting under Operation Lone Star set in motion by Abbott previously. Approximately 1,000 Texas State Troopers and National Guardsmen swarmed the area. The illegal crossing of the international border has stopped for the present time.

            The large numbers of migrants camping under the International Bridge are a big security concern. The heat, combined with the lack of adequate toilets and growing mounds of trash, could lead to the thousands of migrants becoming violent.

            The majority of the migrants belong to a caravan that the Mexican government stopped in Panama but decided to allow to continue to the U.S. border. The Biden administration was planning to start flying the migrants back to Haiti today. Meanwhile, Texas has stopped the flow migrants from coming to the United States.