Former Texas State Senator Donald Huffines: To Save America, We Must Secure the Border

Guest post by Donald Huffines, former Texas State Senator

The new year is a time for fresh starts, new beginnings, and commitments toward self-improvement. On a national level, we need a bit of the same inspiration. By this time, it is no secret that just last month, a historical monthly high of 300,000-plus illegals streamed across our border with the help of the federal government. If, as Americans, we want a goal for 2024, it’s simple: stop the invasion.

Easier, I know, said than done. The fact that last month three-hundred thousand illegals flooded into America means at best the federal government is grossly incompetent. And it’s no secret the Biden Administration is that. But I suspect given the sheer numbers, and the fact that the invasion has been happening for years, it is by design. Democratic strategists are fond of intoning that “demographics is destiny.” Success has not spoiled them a bit.

So, what are resolute, concerned Americans to do? The answer is simple: demand your elected officials give power over immigration back to the states.

Unlike today, where the federal government has almost unchallenged authority over immigration policy, in years past, states often had more control over immigration than the Washington establishment. That changed in the late 1800s when the U.S. Supreme Court greatly expanded federal power through a perverse interpretation of Congress’s enumerated power “to establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization” in Article I Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. Since that time, Washington has consolidated control (or lack thereof) over immigration.

Here in Texas, we have rightly sought to expand our ability to deal with illegal aliens. Even though we have failed in the face of federal assertions of questionable power, our citizens should never give up this approach. Texas should never ask permission from the federal government to secure the our border. We, and every other concerned state in the nation, must assert its authority under Article 1, Section 10 of the Constitution to declare the current flood of illegal aliens crossing our border an invasion and shut down illegal border crossings itself.

Next, immigration reform legislation needs strong sponsors to work its way through Congress, Texas, as one of the largest states in the union, should push its representatives in Congress to expand the power of states to deal directly with illegal immigration. This would include allowing states to fully enforce federal immigration laws, make a violation of federal immigration law a state crime, and make it a crime for illegal immigrants to apply for, solicit, or perform work.

No matter what, the status quo is untenable. In my state alone, the cost of illegal immigration exceeds $13 billion a year. Cities from New York to Chicago to Denver are straining under the influx. But instead of tackling the issue courageously, finger-pointing, and a never-ending que of migrant buses wind across America. It should not take the near breakdown of city and state healthcare and education systems to deal with this issue.

Then again, what liberal enclaves decide is their choice. And what we on the front lines decide, is ours. To get illegal immigration under control in 2024, we must expand the ability of states to address the problem independently of the federal government.

The border invasion is a premeditated attack on Texas to turn us blue. We are the last border state with a Republican Governor. To save America (and the free world), Texas must win this fight.

The year, let us commit to returning to the original design and intent of our structure of government. Doing this, and only this, will significantly reduce illegal and “legal” immigration in our nation and restore the separation of government powers. And that, I need not remind, increases liberty for everyone.

Read Huffines Liberty Foundation’s whitepaper ‘Giving Power Over Immigration Back to the States’ here.

Former Texas State Senator Donald B. Huffines is a strong Christian, proud fifth-generation Texan, husband, father, grandfather, and self-made businessman. Don Huffines fought fearlessly for fiscal restraint and government accountability in the Texas State Senate while representing Dallas County.

During his time in the Senate, Senator Huffines served as the Vice-Chairman of the Border Security Committee. Huffines also earned a reputation as one of Texas’s most conservative lawmakers. Don Huffines now serves as President of the Huffines Liberty Foundation and leads the Texas first movement by promoting the values we all cherish that make Texas great.

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