Despite 'invasion' declaration, experts say it doesn't force change

SAN ANTONIO - Four Texas border county judges have signed declarations of an "invasion" happening on the Texas-Mexico border.

They are now asking Governor Greg Abbott to sign one as well so he can help them secure the southern border.

According to legal experts, the term “invasion” is more incendiary than substance. In hopes to stir up action from the federal government who, to this point, has only practiced inaction.

"You hear the term invasion and that is exactly what this is,” Goliad County Sheriff Roy Boyd said.

Officials sounding the alarm Tuesday in Kinney County as they said counties all over Texas are overrun with migrants seeking asylum.

In response to their cries for help, Abbott’s press secretary Renae Eze said in a statement today "all strategies remain on the table," but fell short of using the term invasion in any part of the statement.

“I think they're feeling desperate about a situation that is really the purview of the federal government,” University of Texas at San Antonio law professor Jamal Rhadbane said.

Rhadbane said Abbott, in theory, could now choose to declare that Texas is being invaded - mobilizing the national guard and DPS at the border.

The Biden administration could then stop that in a matter of moments with a cease and desist as well as federalizing the troops.

“Invasion really has a specific meaning, at least historically,” Rhadbane said. “And that's armed military invasion by an entity seeking to enforce a political will upon you. It can begin to incite people's emotions. That's precisely the problem."

Former homeland security special agent in charge of San Antonio Jerry Robinette said this is the worst he has ever seen the immigration problem, but it is not an invasion.

“This might be an attempt to basically bring more attention to the severity,” Robinette said. “And the reality of it is what happens on the border does not stay on the border"

However, even Democrats like congressman Henry Cuellar, D-District 28, said this is Biden's issue.

“When the federal government doesn't do more, because the Biden administration is embedded with all this immigration activists, then this is what you do is you get people that are calling this an invasion,” Cuellar said.

Cuellar said the lack of action by President Biden and his administration encourages states to take things into their own hands.

But everyone agrees: immigration needs to be handled by the feds and right now they are dropping the ball.

The full statement from the Governor says,

All strategies remain on the table as Texas continues stepping up in the federal government’s absence. While President Biden ignores the ever-growing humanitarian crisis, and Congressional members visit the border for photo-ops and then return to Washington to do nothing, Texas has deployed thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers and DPS troopers and allocated over $4 billion of Texas taxpayer money to secure our border, including building our own border wall, erecting strategic barriers, and sending significant resources to help our local partners as was mentioned repeatedly in the Brackettville press conference. This has resulted in over 274,000 migrant apprehensions, over 16,900 criminal arrests, including smugglers and human traffickers, over 22,000 turnbacks, and millions of lethal doses of fentanyl seized. It’s past time for President Biden—and for both parties in Congress—to do their jobs and secure our southern border. As the challenges on the border continue to increase, Texas will continue to take additional unprecedented action to address those challenges caused by the Biden Administration.