Declaring an Invasion on the Southern Border
And, Just Why *are* Kinney County Ranch Ladies so "Mean?"
Good Morning friends,
Today we’d like to call your attention to a recent article published by “The Center Square.” It’s a non-profit news organization, somewhat like the Texas Tribune, but apparently with a more conservative bend. Like the Tribune they make a pretty good effort at objectivity.
According to their reporting, the Texas Attorney General’s Office says an official opinion on whether or not what’s happening on the Texas Border constitutes an invasion is in the works.
It’s been a month since Republican state Rep. Matt Krause, chair of the Committee on General Investigating, requested Paxton to provide a legal opinion on the matter. He asked Paxton to determine if the federal government has failed to uphold its obligations to protect Texas from invasion under Article IV, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution and whether Texas has the sovereign power to defend itself from invasion.
Responses usually take a minimum of 180 days. However, speculation continues over whether Paxton will issue an opinion before the May 24 runoff election after not receiving 50% of the vote in the March 1 primary election.
Krause and others have told The Center Square the AG’s office is working on the opinion. Paxton’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment.
“The situation at the border is unsustainable and only getting worse,” Krause told The Center Square. “It’s the reason I asked our attorney general for an opinion on whether the federal government has violated its constitutional duty in Article 4, Section 4 and whether an invasion has occurred. Action must be taken now.”
—Bethany Blankley, Reporting for “The Center Square”
State Representative Krause is from the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He’s not the only one saying matters are unsustainable.
Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe surprised us by saying so while communicating with independent Journalist Ali Bradley sometime Monday:
“The Border is out of control. We cannot control this invasion. The Kinney County Sheriff’s Office is overwhelmed and is on the brink of losing control. It’s time the Federal Government took control of the border. The State and Local authorities cannot sustain this level of enforcement and protection of our country.”
—Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe, in a statement quoted by Independent Journalist Ali Bradley
We use the word surprised— because ordinarily the Sheriff is something of a tireless, upbeat, “jolly warrior” sort of a guy.
But, folks following the County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page are already aware of just what a bonkers weekend the County saw Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
At least 19 different loads of illegals were busted on the highways and county roads. 10 by the County and the Galveston Crew of lawmen assisting Kinney County from Galveston— and another 9 chipped in by DPS. Set aside the numbers that were surely passing through area ranches at the same time.
Kinney County is hardly the only spot getting absolutely run over by illegal aliens. Guarantee you that if local law enforcement in the Rio Grande Valley and elsewhere was taking on a tenth of the same kind of effort to arrest and assess what is happening there and elsewhere, the numbers would absolutely dwarf Kinney County’s.
There are all kinds of reasons why this is a certainty but rather than try and list them all, we’ll simply point you toward the simplest, surest barometer we can imagine:
Consider Brooks County, Texas. It’s a wide open spot, dominated by a section of the King Ranch and the small town of Falfurrias. The County sits just north of the RGV and occupies lucrative smuggling routes leading up to Houston.
Last year 108 illegal aliens were found dead in the county. 8,000 have died there since 1994. Those numbers make Kinney County look like babytown frolics by comparison with at least 15 deaths last year.
Now consider just how many illegals must be pouring through Brooks County, up from the RGV, without expiring. Ignore the fact that the RGV has always had more smuggling of people and drugs. Just think about those deaths and what they must mean. And also realize, there surely are more expired illegal aliens out in the countryside that haven’t been found.
So, just how unsustainable are these efforts anyway?
Well, last Friday, the Governor announced he’s taking another $500 million from Texas agencies to fund Operation Lone Star through the end of the year. He’s taking $210 million from the Health and Human Services Commission, and another $160 million from the Department of Public Safety, just to name two of the agencies seeing big cuts for OLS.
Observers have voiced their suspicions that the Governor is banking on a Republican sweep in Congress, that would theoretically see Federal funding get directed to Texas and Operation Lone Star.
As bets go— it’s a fairly bold one, but given the stakes one can appreciate why he may be making it.
If that federal funding doesn’t happen, however, taxpayers in Texas will surely feel the pinch— and that fact very well may be why the ACLU of Texas and other activists aren’t seeing the kind of action they might expect from the Department of Justice and Biden White House.
Texas taxpayers are already screaming for mercy, under the yoke of what many feel are runaway property taxes. Even Kinney County is seeing real estate and corresponding property taxes reach new heights.
If Operation Lone Star ultimately fails and causes a severe pinch for state taxpayers, left-leaning spin-doctors will do their level best to park it directly at the Governor’s doorstep and it may very well derail his presidential hopes. They won’t even have to try hard.
On the other hand, if the red wave coming to Congress actually comes through as the Governor seems to be betting on, and they open up federal money taps for Texas, it may well be what enables those Oval office goals.
Maybe we’re getting carried away and just imagining things.
One of the things that comes up with some regularity when communicating with out-of-town reporters from various statewide and national publications, is a question that goes something like this: “Why are those Kinney County rancher ladies so mean?”
Usually, they are referencing comments available online at Facebook and other social media, calling for closing the border and otherwise doing something about all of the illegal aliens that are swamping the area.
In some cases, especially vehement statements may be getting interpreted as being mean— but one finds that usually the vehemence is a measurement of frustration and perhaps also deeply felt concern.
Realize: These ranch ladies are the ones closest to the danger. Who do you think is most likely to be victimized in the event of trouble? Women alone in a ranch house out in the middle of nowhere would be a safe bet, no?
It is true that so far the vast majority of those crushing the border right now are simply economic-minded illegal aliens. That is, relatively ordinary folks who are out looking for work and a better life and perhaps also some free stuff if they can get it here in the states. Mostly harmless.
But, let’s say 1% of those coming are actually dangerous. Maybe they have prior records for violent crime. That would mean for every 100 people passing through your ranch, 1 is capable of wrecking your whole life.
Maybe 1% is too high an estimate. Let’s say it’s one in every 200. Or one in every 400.
Some of these ranches can see groups of 40 or more passing through every night. Sometimes 3 different waves of groups a day. That’d be at least 280 a week.
Don’t wonder at why Kinney County ranch ladies are so “mean.” Ponder the fact that they haven’t shot someone already and how it might be more accurate to describe them as “restrained,” or perhaps even “relatively demure” on the subject.
And on that note, we will take our own relatively demure mouse pointer down to the publish button and click it.
As always, any errors, opinions, or other misdeeds contained in this newsletter are ours alone, and should not be considered official statements by Kinney County, or the Sheriff’s Office, except in those cases where it is explicitly so in the case of news releases or direct quotes.
Hope you’re having a great one, and thanks for reading.
Edited to add a missing "to" to the phrase "level best to park it.."