LETTER: Declare this an invasion

With migrants who have no legal basis for entering our country pouring in at a rate that overwhelms the Border Patrol, what are we, in Texas, to do with its effects? Our safety is threatened as the cartels enjoy open borders, passing guns and money south and drugs and sexslaves north while the attention of border agents is distracted with the surge of illegal crossings. To top it off, some folks entering our country illegally are apprehended, test positive for COVID-19 and then are released into our community.

To whom can we appeal our grievances? Certainly not to Democrat Congressman Filemon Vela, whose virtue-signaling by traveling to the Matamoros migrant camps makes him a better representative for the illegal aliens than for us. Certainly not to President Biden, who is repaying his friends who put him in office with his silence and weak jabs at a problem that requires a knock-out punch.

The America-first policy of the previous administration is looking better with every passing day. We must ignore the cancel culture threats and just speak truth to power: Mr. President, you are weak and you are surrounded by people who would sacrifice America in exchange for political power. Mr. Vela, you, sir, are a sell-out. Please resign and dedicate your life to charity missions to impoverished countries if your heart so desires. We need a congressman who will place Americans first. Your political strategizing may be good for your career, but it is disastrous for our region and our country.

I call on Gov. Abbott to act as a president of a sovereign country. Declare that an invasion of Texas is actually happening and that danger is imminent and will not admit of delay. Hold a live, televised address to Texans explaining the need to act decisively in the absence of leadership from Washington. Request emergency funding for the Texas Military Department from the Texas Legislature.

After this declaration, Texas should commandeer all ports of entry along the Texas-Mexico border with Texas State Guard, Army National Guard and Air Guard assets, supplementing the meager resources of the federal agents at these posts. Send a letter to the Mexican government, to be personally delivered by the Texas secretary of state, stating your intentions to keep all Texas border crossings limited until further notice, requesting Mexico’s immediate response to mitigate the surge of illegal crossings.

Consider the possibility of Texas completing the building of the wall in key strategic areas. Encourage charities to look after the needs of foreigners waiting to cross into Texas. Demand that each nation take care of its own people, especially when those people leave their country and become a burden on another.

Send a Texas entourage, led by the Texas secretary of state, to visit with her counterparts in Central America to act in Texas’ best interest, and, where necessary, to enter into agreements or compacts between our state and foreign nations as allowed in times of invasion under Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution.

If Texas must go at it alone, we shall go — and we shall prevail. Leadership requires courage. This strong stance in defense of Texans will cause neighboring border states to follow suit and, with any luck, eventually translate into enough political pressure to overcome the impasse in Washington, forcing it to take decisive, meaningful actions that are in America’s interest above anything else.

Rey Gonzalez, Harlingen