Montgomery County, Texas, has become the 51st county in the state to declare an invasion at the southern border, following a Supreme Court ruling that allowed the federal government to remove wire barriers erected by the state.
The county officials unanimously passed a resolution on Tuesday, expressing support for Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security mission, Operation Lone Star, and denouncing the Biden administration’s failure to protect the state from illegal immigration.
Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough said he wanted to say something “in response to the Supreme Court ruling yesterday to allow Border Patrol agents to remove Texas barriers. I believe it is time for Texas to show some civil disobedience.”
Operation Lone Star was launched by Abbott in March 2023, in response to the surge of migrants crossing the border. The state deployed National Guard troops and state troopers, and installed concertina wire barriers to prevent illegal entry between ports of entry on Texas soil.
However, the Border Patrol agents began tearing down the barriers, claiming they interfered with their operations and violated federal law. Texas sued the federal government, seeking an injunction to stop the removal of the barriers.
On Monday, the Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling that favored Texas, and allowed the Border Patrol agents to continue tearing down the barriers, pending the outcome of the case.
Abbott said he would “continue to defend Texas’ constitutional authority to secure the border and prevent the Biden administration from destroying our property.”
Some legal experts have argued that Texas has the constitutional right to declare an invasion at the border and to repel it, citing the Guarantee Clause of the U.S. Constitution (Article IV, Section 4), which states that the United States shall protect each state against invasion.
Former Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who issued a legal opinion defining an invasion in 2023, said the Biden administration failed to protect Arizona from an invasion under the Guarantee Clause and that the governor, as commander-in-chief, has the independent authority under the state self-defense clause of the Arizona constitution to defend Arizona from an invasion.
Kinney County Attorney Brent Smith, who led the charge for Texas counties to declare an invasion, agreed with Brnovich’s arguments. He said the invasion resolutions were a way to “put pressure on the federal government to do their job.”
The first three Texas counties to declare an invasion were Kinney, Goliad and Terrell, on July 5, 2022. By November 2023, 50 counties had passed invasion resolutions. Montgomery County joined them on Tuesday, becoming the 51st county to do so.
The invasion declarations have drawn criticism from some civil rights groups and immigration advocates, who have accused the counties of using inflammatory rhetoric and violating the human rights of migrants.
