Welcome to your weekly Texans for Strong Borders Newsletter. Here is everything you need to know about the fight to end illegal immigration into the state of Texas:
Texas House Republicans Let Democrats Kill HB 20, the Border Protection Unit Act
On Tuesday after a day of delays, the Border Protection Unit Act (the most extensive and well-rounded piece of Border Security legislation to touch the Texas legislature, or any state legislature for that matter) made its way to the House floor.
Per House Rules, Speaker Dade Phelan is given the first twenty bill numbers to designate as priority items. With this deadline in mind, HB 20 by State Representative Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler) was one of the first twenty bills filed, deeming it a priority of the Speaker of the House and the Texas House of Representatives.
Weeks later, the bill was heard in committee to the dissatisfaction of Open Borders radicals who testified against and expressed their discontent with the legislation exclaiming “migration is a human right” and “open borders do not exist.”
When the bill came to the floor on Tuesday, we at Texans for Strong Borders were hopeful and optimistic not only to see passage out of the House, but to soon see its enforcement at the Texas border.
However, after multiple points of order, House Speaker Dade Phelan bailed on Texans under the pressure of Democrats as he sustained the third point of order brought forth by a Democrat Rep, effectively killing the bill. What followed next was not much better.
HB 7, a bill that involved a border security provision but nothing similar in substance to HB 20, received several amendments by Republicans to mirror the now dead HB 20. In short, this bill would make any Border Protection Unit effort and existing border security efforts by DPS beholden to the whims of County Commissioner Courts in Texas border counties, which are overwhelmingly controlled by Democrats.
HB 7 does not include the following:
-Legislative Finding of Invasion/Imminent Danger under Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution
-Texas Title 42 Public Health Provisions to Deny Entry
-Making Criminal Trespass from outside of Texas a State Jail Felony
Biden Administration Lets Title 42 Expire
After multiple lawsuits by Open Borders groups such as the ACLU in 2022, Title 42 was set to end in December of last year but the Supreme Court swooped in just before the end of the year to extend it. The Biden Administration then ended COVID-19 emergency orders and set Title 42 to finally expire in May.
Today, May 12th, 2023, to be exact.
Title 42 is now finished and hundreds of thousands, if not millions of illegal aliens will pour across our borders and if apprehended, be processed through Title 8, federal immigration law. The Biden Administration has proven that it has zero interest in enforcing deportations under federal law.
Days before the end of Title 42 Border Patrol executives met to discuss operations going forward under the absence of the program. They betrayed Americans as they elected to release illegal aliens into our streets, with minimal processing and a court date far into the future, if at all.
If you would like access to the most up-to-date information on the happenings at the border and the effects of the end of Title 42, FOLLOW US on Twitter. We are on the ground in El Paso, Texas covering the events as they unfold.
U.S. House of Representatives Pass H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act of 2023
The 118th Congress set expectations high when a minority of Republicans band together to ensure a list of priorities would be met by the speaker.
One of those high priority items, which forced Kevin McCarthy’s hand, was Border Security.
Originally, Chip Roy (R-Texas), authored HR 29, the House GOP caucus’ border security bill until Tony Gonzales, a fellow Texas Republican congressman, fought tooth and nail to kill the legislation.
House Republicans went back to the drawing board and H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act of 2023, was constructed with the help of a Border Security Coalition (of which we are a proud member).
H.R. 2 would accomplish the following:
- End catch & release
- Resume wall construction
- Bolster border patrol staffing
- Provide Title 42-like authority
- Address exploitation of unaccompanied children by the Biden admin
- Expand mandatory e-verify
H.R. now heads to the U.S. Senate for debate and deliberation.
Crucial Border Security Legislation is Sitting Idle in Both Chambers
We have and will continue to hold the belief that Texas does not only need a physical barrier OR a legal barrier to illegal immigration, it needs both.
SB 1481 and SB 1621, finishing the Texas border wall and mandating e-verify for ALL are currently sitting on the Senate’s intent calendar, waiting to be taken up by the Senate for a record vote of the body.
SCR 23, a resolution declaring an invasion, has been voted out of the Senate with wide bipartisan support and referred to a committee in the House. However, the House Committee on State Affairs has yet scheduled its hearing.
Sine Die, the last day of session, takes place on May 29th. As it stands, these bills have less than three weeks to be passed.
Our legislators need to take decisive action to secure the border now. We cannot wait until 2025 to address this crisis.
This has been your weekly Texans for Strong Borders Newsletter. Thank you for reading, Patriot.