9/21/23 Fake News Alert: Abbott’s Border Invasion Declaration

-The truth behind reports that Gov. Greg Abbott has just declared an invasion at the southern border -Could Ken Paxton run against John Cornyn for Senate in 2026? -Citizens gear up to fight for school choice Fake news has been flying around, not only social media, but it has seeped into some other reporting as well. I’m talking about headlines I’ve seen today that have boldly pronounced: “Texas Governor Declares Invasion at Southern Border.” The source of this reporting? It’s not made up out of thin air, it is derived from a post on X by Gov. Greg Abbott last night. In that post he said “I officially declared an invasion at our border because of Biden’s policies. We deployed the Texas National Guard, DPS & local law enforcement. We are building a border wall, razor wire & marine barriers. We are also repelling migrants.” If you looked at the comments on that post, especially early on, the reaction was celebrations! Finally! What took so long? Well done Governor! The only problem? Gov. Abbott didn’t declare an invasion at the southern border yesterday. Not at all. In fact, what the governor referred to and embedded inside the post was a “declaration” made by him in November of last year, ten months ago. What has been done since? He says “We deployed the Texas National Guard, DPS & local law enforcement.” That’s true, Operation Lone Star which has been in place for years now involves the National Guard, DPS, and some local police. But what have they done? Instead of repelling and sending illegal aliens back, they’ve largely assisted border patrol in processing them and moving them deeper into the country. That’s not a fresh assessment, groups like Texans for Strong Borders have been shining a light on this for quite some time. And that was the case before and after his supposed “invasion declaration” last year. “We are building a border wall, razor wire & marine barriers. “ And we have certainly seen some of this, the most notable being that border buoy barrier. Our sources have indicated these have been helpful where they have been deployed. But keep this in mind: that string of buoys is 1,000 feet long. The border is over 1,200 miles. A tiny fraction. And even that is being challenged in federal court by the Biden administration. “We are also repelling migrants,” he says. All you need to do is look at the footage to know that’s hardly true. Just this week, thousands have gathered in Eagle Pass and thousands more are making the trip from Central America to Mexico to our southern border. Millions of illegal aliens have flooded across the border in the past few years. So, what about this “invasion declaration” by the governor? It’s the difference between declaring something and doing something. If you’re a fan of The Office, there’s a famous scene where Michael Scott, when facing money problems, declares bankruptcy by standing up in the middle in the room and shouting “I declare bankruptcy!” loudly. The joke of course being that, simply declaring it does nothing. There are actual actions you must take. In this case, Gov. Abbott can “declare” anything he’d like. But until he fully exercises the state’s constitutional power to STOP the invasion at our southern border, the words ring hollow. Meanwhile, today you have two state representatives—Brian Harrison and Matt Schaefer—calling on the governor to add border security to a special session.