Border ‘Invasion’ Gives Texas ‘Power to Put Hands on People and Send Them Back,’ Says Lt. Gov.

Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick told Fox News that the state is being invaded, which gives the state the power to remove migrants from the country. He said the Constitution gives Texas the “power to put hands on people and send them back.”

Fox News Anchor Trace Gallagher interviewed Lt. Gov. Patrick Tuesday afternoon about the worsening crisis along the Texas border with Mexico. The interview came shortly before a Texas border county declared the migrant surge to be an “invasion.”

“Some counties in Texas are ready to declare an invasion into their counties,” Patrick told Gallagher. “We had 230-some-thousand cross the [U.S.] border last month. That’s only who we apprehended.”

“We are being invaded,” the Lt. Gov. stated. “If we’re being invaded under the Constitution, I think that gives us the power to put hands on people and send them back.”

Kinney County Judge Tully Shahan described the conditions experienced by residents of his county as thousands pour across the border from Mexico into Texas every day.

“We are taking these steps in hopes of encouraging our Governor to acknowledge the existence of an invasion on our border with Mexico and take the necessary actions to preserve and protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Texas,” the county judge stated. In Texas, a county judge is the chief executive officer of the county.

Several county judges in attendance supported the declaration of invasion and urged Governor Greg Abbott to do the same.

Breitbart Texas reached out to Abbott’s office for a reaction to the invasion declaration by Kinney County and the call for him to follow suit. The governor’s office did not rule out such a declaration from Austin.

“All strategies remain on the table as Texas continues stepping up in the federal government’s absence,” Abbott’s spokesman Renae Eze said in a written statement. “While President Biden ignores the ever-growing humanitarian crisis, and Congressional members visit the border for photo-ops and then return to Washington to do nothing, Texas has deployed thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers and DPS troopers and allocated over $4 billion of Texas taxpayer money to secure our border, including building our own border wall, erecting strategic barriers, and sending significant resources to help our local partners as was mentioned repeatedly in the Brackettville press conference.”

“It’s past time for President Biden—and for both parties in Congress—to do their jobs and secure our southern border,” Eze added. “As the challenges on the border continue to increase, Texas will continue to take additional unprecedented action to address those challenges caused by the Biden Administration.”

The governor’s office did not say what those “unprecedented actions” might be.