COUNTERPOINT-Since I live in Texas, I am painfully aware of what is happening on the Texas border with Mexico and on the borders of Arizona, New Mexico and California. Thousands of children from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras are crossing the border every week. Many of them are teenagers with known affiliations to violent gangs such as MS-13. They are not being detained to be deported, but in many cases being sent to American cities where the gang is active.
Many children and adults that are being literally bused into our country illegally are also ill with the dangerous swine flu, tuberculosis, and chicken pox among other diseases. Some are being treated at U.S. taxpayer expense, but most of the illegals are not even getting basic medical exams before being placed in our military bases or sent to facilities in cities and towns around the country. We are looking at a far reaching and potentially deadly medical crisis.
None of this seems to really interest Obama, probably because his policies, including refusing to enforce immigration laws and issuing executive orders to institute the so called “Dream Act” that Congress refused to pass, are the cause of this crisis. All of that violates Article 2, section 3 of the constitution that requires the President “to take care that the Laws be faithfully executed…” Clearly, Obama has no intention of fulfilling his oath of office and obeying the Constitution.
In addition, another major concern being ignored by Obama is the known fact that criminals and potential Islamic terrorists from Yemen, Iran, Somalia, and other Middle Eastern and African countries are using the open border as an opportunity to enter the U.S. and set up shop. High ranking military and Intelligence officials fear terrorist attacks within the U.S. are imminent.
However, Obama has no time during his visit to Texas to go to the border and see the crisis for himself. He is doing the one thing that really interests him, fund raising for Democrats for the upcoming election. Citizens of Texas and other border states are demanding that something be done and so Obama proposes spending billions of dollars to house, feed, cloth, educate, and otherwise care for people who are knowingly and wantonly violating our laws.
There is a way to stop this invasion and it is contained in our Constitution. The states can take action on their own in a manner that would protect our borders and strike at the heart of the Obama administration and its unconstitutional policies. Article 1, Section 10 of the Constitution states in paragraph 3:
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“No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in times of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.” (Emphasis added)
We are being invaded and not just by innocent children as the leftist media would have you believe. We are being invaded by criminals and terrorists from numerous foreign nations. American lives and property are in danger as are the economies of many states, not just those on the border.
Therefore, I am calling on the governors of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California to exercise the power and authority granted to them by Article 1, section 10 of the U.S. Constitution and use whatever resources are necessary, including the National Guard, to seal our southern border. It will not be cheap, but it will certainly ultimately cost less than having hundreds of thousands of additional illegals come in and overwhelm the state economies.
Everyone who lives in these states needs to contact their governor and state representatives to encourage this action. People in other states should contact their elected officials to get them to support any such actions taken by these four states. Otherwise, disaster is imminent.
(Michael Connelly is a US Army veteran, a retired attorney, published author, freelance writer, and instructor of Constitutional law. He is an occasional contributor to CityWatch. Reach him at: [email protected]
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 12 Issue 56
Pub: Jul 11, 2014
