Under the Biden administration, there has been a surge of crossings As well as deaths. And things don’t look like they’ll improve anytime soon. The US Department of Homeland Security is preparing for about 400,000 migrants a month once the Trump-era Title 42 policy lifts next month.
The border crisis has become such a huge problem that some say we should give up on solving it. Just like my cookie addiction. But not good ol’ Texas. Whether it’s a fight, a gun, or alcohol, they don’t give up so easily.
Texas Republicans want to crack down hard on illegal border crossings, and a new proposal to do that would create a civilian Border Protection Unit. Or, as critics call it, an “Extreme Vigilante Death Squad.” Which is supposed to sound scary, but to me, it just sounds like the next terrible DC movie.
“What are we? Some kind of Extreme Vigilante Death Squad?” Texas House Bill 20, otherwise known as the Border Protection Unit Act, goes back to a previous effort to enforce border security. Back in 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star to respond to the rise in illegal immigration.
Citing the federal government’s failure to secure the border and deal with the fentanyl crisis, the operation called upon the state’s National Guard and various law enforcement officials to ramp up security along the Texan border with Mexico. They should have also called upon those folks that check your receipt when you leave Costco.
*Nobody* gets by them. Now this may surprise you, but the Abbott administration said Abbott’s Operation Lone Star was historic and wonderful! But it wasn’t without its own scandals. Both Republicans and Democrats criticized Abbott for rushing the operation without much planning or clear purpose.
They also blamed it for a wave of National Guard suicides and investigated it for civil rights violations. These scandals aside, the operation has also been really expensive. So far, more than $4 billion has been spent in just 2 years while making almost no discernable impact on illegal immigration or drugs.
But aside from all that… great job on the historic action! Due to the growing costs, the Abbott administration reduced the number of National Guard troops deployed to the border. But who’ll take their place? I know who I’d choose.
But no one ever listens to me, so this is where the Border Protection Unit Act comes into play. But what exactly does it do? Does it create “vigilante death squads”? I’ll tell you after the break. Welcome back. Texas Governor Abbott wants to secure the border, but he needs more manpower to do it.
House Bill 20, known as the Border Protection Unit Bill, provides just that. It was written by Republican Representative Matt Schaefer and introduced by Speaker of the House Dade Phelan. The bill would create a Border Protection Unit within the Texas Department of Public Safety.
I smell a new Law and Order spin-off coming out of this. The Border Protection Unit would be led by a governor-appointed chief. That chief would be able to employ licensed state or local law enforcement personnel As well as citizens without a felony conviction. And how will they protect the border?
Will they lock arms and play the world’s most high stakes game of Red Rover? Well, after training and authorization by the governor, these civilians would be able to make arrests. Civilians arresting people and working in border security isn’t a new concept.
As I’ve mentioned in a previous episode, there are already militias out there making arrests in New Mexico, some even working with US Customs and Border Protection. If you want to learn more about that, I’ll leave a link below. Unlike those other groups, however, the Border Protection Unit would give its members a lot
Of the same benefits as normal law enforcement, including immunity from criminal and civil liability. They’re gonna deputize citizens and make them immune from consequences? Who came up with this idea? Matt Schaefer or the ghost of John Wayne? The unit would also oversee the construction and maintenance of walls, fences, and other physical barriers.
Other physical barriers? Like shipping containers? The Border Protection Unit would also have explicit permission to deter and repel people who attempt to illegally enter Texas. It would even be allowed to use force, specifically against known transnational cartel operatives. I’d hope so. Cartels aren’t known to play fair in games of Red Rover.
Their strategy for breaking through people’s arms is machetes. At the moment, The Border Protection Unit Act is just a proposal. But “If enacted, the bill would go into effect on Sept. 1. The Border Protection Unit would operate through the end of 2030, at which time the legislature
Would need to either reauthorize it or abolish it.” There are a lot of negative reactions. The fact that this bill recruits civilians to enforce the border sparks vigilante fears, Fears of what critics colorfully call an “Extreme Vigilante Death Squad.” After all, not every vigilante is as disciplined as Batman.
And even he puts lawbreakers in traction. Seems a bit excessive for shoplifting, doesn’t it? Some are reminded of the bloody history of lynchings against Mexicans and Mexican Americans, Especially since actual white supremacists like Louis Beam and David Duke have advocated for militias to keep nonwhites from crossing the border.
Many believe the Border Protection Unit will attract those kinds of people, which is why the Texas Civil Rights Project calls its creation “the most dangerous proposal” it has ever seen. Which is saying something, since this is Texas. There have probably been proposals there for BBQ ribs cooked over machine gun fire.
The Texas Civil Rights Project even goes so far as to claim that the creation of the Border Protection Unit will “codify violence and xenophobia into law” Using “vigilantes with no qualifications.” Leading many to ask, “…wait, violence and xenophobia aren’t *already* codified law in Texas?”
The Mexican American Legislative Caucus echoes these concerns as well, claiming that the proposal will “empower border vigilantes to hunt migrants and racially profile Latinos.” Critics also argue that the bill is so broadly written that it would allow for civilian vigilantes
To question every person’s American status across all Texas borders, not just the southern border to Mexico, and charge people for trespassing if they come into Texas without the consent of landowners. Because after all, you never know when a sneaky Canadian might try passing themselves off as a red-blooded American. Like William Shatner.
No wonder Captain Kirk got into so many sticky situations. He missed his precious Canadian maple syrup. “When you look at language about even felony trespass. American citizens, if they even cross without the consent of a landowner, say even when they’re coming back from Oklahoma to Texas or Louisiana to Texas, an American citizen
Can now be charged with a third degree felony trespass under this language of the bill. It’s not just limited anymore to border regions or migrants. This is something that will affect every person in Texas.” The bill’s supporters however say the unit will be an organization of professionally
Trained men and women and that it will operate the same way as the National Guard. Operate the same way as the National Guard? The same National Guard with all the suicides? That’s like a boss saying he’s gonna have his team as well trained as the Heaven’s Gate cult.
But there are concerns about how this unit would be put into practice. For one, there aren’t even any details about the size of the unit and the cost of forming and running it. There’s also the issue of how the unit will be able to tell who’s an illegal immigrant and who’s not.
Would they have access to a federal database to determine a person’s immigration status? Also, how much training would be involved? Many fear the Border Protection Unit Act could end up creating a “show me your papers” state that would detain people who just merely look like they could be illegal immigrants.
On top of that, there are also legal conflicts with federal law, given that it’s the federal government’s job to enforce immigration laws, not the state’s. Not that the federal government is doing that. If this proposal becomes law, this could end up being challenged in the Supreme Court.
Republicans may even be betting on it. Which makes sense since the over-under on *everything* in the Supreme Court these days is 6-3. Back in 2012, the Supreme Court struck down Arizona’s attempt to enforce its own immigration laws in Arizona v. United States.
But with a more conservative Supreme Court, Texas might be hoping things will change. It could argue that the federal government is failing to uphold Article IV Section 4 of the US Constitution, which dictates that the federal government shall protect states from invasion.
Texas could then argue that illegal immigration counts as an invasion and that the federal government isn’t doing its job, thus arguing that states need their own border policies. And a lot of people do see it as an invasion. Whether that argument will fly with the Supreme Court remains to be seen.
That argument has its own legal can of worms. It’ll open a whole new slew of questions about the border crisis. One of them being Biden asking, “What border crisis?” But what do you think of Texas creating a Border Protection Unit? Leave your comments below.
And if you like this show, remember that we rely mainly on direct support from viewers like you. All it takes is as little as a dollar per episode over on our crowd funding website Patreon. Visit patreon.com/americauncovered for more. Click the link below. Once again, I’m Chris Chappell. Thanks for watching America Uncovered.
