Senate Democrats Block Resolution To Deem Border Crisis An ‘Invasion’
Arjun Singh on February 6, 2024
Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked the passage of a resolution that would deem the influx of illegal entries by foreign nationals over the southern border an “invasion.”
Since the Biden administration assumed office, millions of foreign nationals have illegally entered the country and been apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol. Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas sought unanimous consent to pass a resolution indicating that the influx is an “invasion,” but was denied such consent by Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California for the majority.
“The President has not done his constitutional duty, we’ve established that. Thus, we must invoke and concur with the governor of Texas, that an actual invasion has occurred,” Marshall said in remarks on the Senate floor. “The governor of Texas, Governor [Greg] Abbott, has not just a moral responsibility, but the constitutional right to invoke his power and authority to do everything in his capabilities, to protect the good people of Texas.”
Today I wrote Pres. Biden to explain why Texas is invoking Art. 1 Sec. 10 of the Constitution to respond to the invasion caused by Biden’s open border policies.
Texas is prioritizing repelling & returning immigrants who enter illegally.
Full letter:https://t.co/v3GZmqVdoM
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) November 16, 2022
Marshall’s resolution would have expressed that the mass illegal entry of foreign nationals over the U.S. border with Mexico constitutes an “invasion” under Article IV, § 4, of the U.S. Constitution, and that states may take individual action to repel it under Article I, § 10, a provision that allows for states to “engage in War” with the consent of Congress.
“To have an invasion you have to have invaders … James Madison called pirates and barbarians invaders, and just like the barbarians of Madison’s time, today, cartels and terrorists are those invaders,” Marshall noted.
Comparing Washington, D.C. to Texas, he analogized that an equivalent influx into the city would be akin to “10,000 ships coming up the Potomac River over the last three years … each with 1,000 people from over 180 nations.”
Padilla, rising to object to Marshall’s motion, accused the Republicans of rank partisanship.
“They believe that a narrative of chaos and fear will help Donald Trump in November. They’re saying the quiet part out loud,” Padilla said, noting that Marshall and several Republicans oppose a bipartisan border security bill negotiated by senators that was released on Sunday.
Senate Resolution 543 (118th Congress) by Daily Caller News Foundation on Scribd
He added that “giving immigration powers to governors” would lead to “cruelty and lawlessness,” “unconstitutional legislation” and “racial profiling,” citing Texas’ use of river buoys to block migrants from crossing the Rio Grande.
Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville from Alabama spoke in the resolution’s defense.
“There’s [a] saying that the constitution is not a suicide pact. The federal government cannot, I repeat, cannot force Texas to let itself be invaded and destroyed,” Tuberville said.
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