Is TX Rep. right govt. refuses to do its ‘Constitutional duty’ securing border?
Fact Box
- Texas Representative Chip Roy tweeted a thread on September 19, 2021, the issues Texas faces at the border, saying “feds abandon Constitution,” “clearly it’s the job of the federal govt to secure border & the Constitution,” and “in Texas we have to come to grips with fact our communities are in danger because the federal government refuses to do its Constitutional duty.” The thread lists problems—such as increased drug and sex trafficking, the allowal of COVID-positive foreign nationals entry, decreased resources to border security agencies, and more—as impeachable offenses.
- Article IV Section 4 of the US Constitution reads “The US shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.”
- US Customs and Border Protection reported a 21-year record high of 212,672 migrant apprehensions in July 2021. August has seen similar numbers of almost 209,000 (a reported 317% increase from August 2020), a Department of Homeland Security official said.
- An estimated 12,000 or more Haitian migrants, once living in Central and South America, crossed the Rio Grande river into Texas to camp beneath the Del Rio bridge. Texas Governor Abbott addressed the crisis on September 17, 2020, saying, “It is the federal government’s job to secure our border” He announced he’s directing nearly $3 billion to border security to stem the tide of illegal immigration, crime, human trafficking, and drug smuggling.
Stephanie (Yes)
Texas Representative Chip Roy is correct: the federal government is failing its 'Constitutional duty' to secure the border. There has been an ongoing crisis at the US/Mexico border since President Joe Biden reversed many immigration policies implemented by former President Donald Trump, resulting in an astronomical increase in illegal immigrants entering the country.
Roy is one of many politicians who have expressed disapproval of Biden's lack of enforcement, and they have the right to be concerned. Article IV, Section 4 guarantees states' protection from invasion, yet the Left, including the Commander in Chief himself, consistently disregards the Constitution in failing to uphold the protections guaranteed under it.
Social justice activists glorify illegal immigration as a humanitarian solution because often, border crossers have left a country where they were oppressed. Still, the reality is that it's dangerous for all involved. It creates a pathway for horrors such as human trafficking and drug cartels, allows criminals to enter the country, harms the US economy, and makes it harder for enforcement agencies such as ICE and CBP to address the issue. Simply put, open borders are essentially an invitation for criminal activity and are why immigration laws are necessary and constitutional.
Roy has been speaking out against Biden's failure to do anything about the border crisis and continued to do so recently both on Tucker Carlson's show as well as Twitter. Hopefully, his recent outspokenness will wake the politicians we have elected to the seriousness of this issue and encourage them to act. Failing to do a job as important as enforcing and defining America's borders properly continually puts the nation at risk.
Morgan (No)
The US Constitution focuses on establishing law and order in the country, detailing, in fairly vague language, the overarching way in which the government should run. But it in no way details how every duty is to be executed, including border patrol. The Constitution consists of seven articles and 27 amendments—that's not enough writing to cover every law or cover every legal need the US will face.
When it comes to border security, the Constitution isn't the document to be looking at for that need. Furthermore, the US Constitution is for national issues/clarification—not disagreements and immigrants from other countries. The articles discuss how the government functions and the relationships between the different levels and areas of government. No matter how important it is to some citizens to keep immigrants out, immigration is not a key component of government or how the government levels interact.
The US federal government does, in fact, secure the border using a variety of measures—many of which have given the US bad publicity in recent years. The Department of Homeland Security has patrols and security technology. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is a branch of the Department of Homeland Security dedicated to securing the border.
Those who claim the US government has a 'constitutional duty' to secure the border are focusing too much on immigration and not enough on actual problems we are facing. Our government has more important things to worry about regarding its own citizens, such as keeping us healthy in the aftermath of a pandemic. This is far more important than figuring out how to keep people from crossing our border.
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