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Josh Hawley Introduces Legislation to Allow Border States to Deport Illegal Immigrants

by | Oct 6, 2023

by Debra Heine

 

Because the Biden regime refuses to enforce federal immigration laws, Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) this week introduced legislation that would allow states to defend their borders themselves.

The State Border Defense Act would allow California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to place barriers on federal lands or water along the southern border and allow them to prosecute and remove illegal immigrants from the country.

The law would effectively nullify a 2012 Supreme Court case that significantly limited the ability of states to be involved in immigration enforcement, according to Fox News.

“Our southern border is overrun,” Hawley told Fox. “Joe Biden’s dangerous open-border policies are making it worse every single day, leaving states like Missouri to deal with the consequences. Since the federal government refuses to enforce our immigration laws, states must be able to.”

The legislation comes as Texas is battling with the Biden administration over its efforts to build a buoy barrier in the Rio Grande. The Department of Justice said the barrier violated federal law, raised humanitarian concerns, and presented “serious risks” to public safety and the environment.

A federal judge initially ordered the barrier to be removed, but that order has been put on hold by an appeals court. However, it is not the only challenge Texas is facing. Images last month showed Border Patrol agents cutting through barbed wire – set up by Texas – in order to allow migrants to be processed. Arizona last year had set up shipping containers as a makeshift border barrier but removed them amid a legal challenge from the administration.

The Biden administration, meanwhile, has largely ended border wall construction, which increased dramatically under the Trump administration.

Back in August, Texas Governor Greg Abbott argued that Texas has the right to defend its own borders.

“I will do whatever I have to do to defend our state from the invasion of the Mexican drug cartels and others who have tried to come into our country illegally, and I will protect our sovereignty,” Abbott said of the buoys.

“Joe Biden is trying to punish border states that enforce our immigration laws,” Hawley said Wednesday. “We should be empowering them. If Biden won’t secure the border, let the states do it.”

As a direct result of Biden’s disastrous border policies, illegal crossings have skyrocketed in recent months with the problem getting worse by the day. Total migrant encounters for September, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sources, exceeded 260,000— the highest monthly total ever recorded.

Ben Bergquam of Real America’s Voice has been reporting on the dire situation from the Darien Gap and from Southern border.

“This is a planned invasion,” Bergquam said.

Video footage shows illegal aliens storming the border in El Paso Tuesday night.

Amid this ongoing migrant crisis, it is not outside the realm of possibility that Hawley’s bill could pass with the support of some Senate Democrats.

In recent weeks, even left-wing Democrat officeholders have begun criticizing the Biden regime’s lax border policies.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday called on Joe Biden to take “swift action” to address his administration’s “lack of intervention and coordination” at the southern border.

In a letter to Biden, Pritzker demanded federal assistance and said the influx of illegals has created an “untenable situation for Illinois.”

After years of boasting that her state was a safe sanctuary for illegal immigrants, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul  recently changed her tune.

“Well, we want them to have a limit on who can come across the border. It is too open right now,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Sunday. “People coming from all over the world are finding their way through simply saying they need asylum.”

New York City Mayor Eric Adams complained last month that the nonstop influx of illegal aliens into the Big Apple was destroying the city, and officials were forced to deal with the situation without the help of federal assistance.

“Month after month I stood up and said this is gonna come to a neighborhood near you. Well, we’re here, we’re getting no support on this national crisis,” he said.

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Debra Heine reports for American Greatness.
Background Photo “Ilegal Immigrants” by Chief Jason Owens.

 

 

 

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1 Comment

  1. AZ Resident
    AZ Resident on October 6, 2023 at 10:35 am

    Josh Hawley is young, smart and creative. We need his caliber of Senator. The dreary Establishment days of Mitch McConnell are over.

    Reply

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