On Friday, February 23, 2024, America’s Future submitted a Motion for Leave to File a Supplemental Amicus brief to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in in United States of America v Greg Abbott, in his official capacity as Governor of Texas et al., No. 23-50632, one of the ongoing legal battles between Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the Biden Administration. On February 27, 2024 the Fifth Circuit en banc panel granted our Motion and our Amicus was filed by the court, as submitted. America’s Future supports Governor Abbott’s comprehensive and successful response to the Biden Administration’s abdication of power to secure our southern border against the ongoing invasion of illegal aliens into our homeland. The Biden Administration is working against the interests of America and the safety of Americans insomuch as it has all but abandoned the rule of law covering illegal immigration.
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.
And, as explained in our brief,
In 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbott responded to the massive invasion of illegal immigration across Texas’s border with Mexico by launching multiple defensive strategies termed ‘Operation Lone Star.’ He invoked the Invasion Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which states in pertinent part:
No State shall, without the Consent of Congress … engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay. [Art. I, Sec. 10, cl.3.]
Each state enjoys inherent power to defend its own borders against invasion. It is both remarkable and absurd that the Biden Administration continues to sue Texas, wasting federal and state taxpayer money and resources, in an effort to prevent Texas from protecting itself (and all Americans for that matter) against the flood of illegal aliens, cartels, sex traffickers, and violent criminals when, instead, the administration should be thanking Governor Abbott for doing the job of the federal government.
Not only do the states enjoy the inherent right to defend its borders, but in 1925, the Supreme Court acknowledged that a primary and essential right of each state is self-preservation. Furthermore, an informed judiciary need only look to the Constitution and the published papers of American leaders during Her infancy to be certain Texas is resoundingly within its rights.
Our brief provides the Fifth Circuit with historical insight, including an ample war chest of facts and text illustrating just that. For instance, as reminders, our brief brings to light the words of Patrick Henry along with the importance of Federalist No. 43 in Texas’ battle to save our nation from itself, citing,
In Federalist No. 43, Madison explained:
A protection against invasion, is due from every society, to the parts composing it. The latitude of the expression here used, seems to secure each state not only against foreign hostility, but against ambitious or vindictive enterprises of its more powerful neighbours.
In the Virginia ratifying convention, Patrick Henry did not mince words:
If you give this clause a fair construction, what is the true meaning of it? What does this relate to? Not domestic insurrections, but war. If the country be invaded, a state may go to war….
Not only is our brief robust with persuasive historical reasoning in support of Governor Abbott and states’ rights, but it also provides a survey of case law bolstering Abbott’s case for protecting the jurisdiction he leads and, by extension, all of us. Case law dating back to 1793 all the way through last year (2023) is incorporated, cited, and quoted throughout the brief, bringing to the forefront common law reasoning and precedence favoring Governor Abbott and “Operation Lone Star.”
Our brief offers extensive well-reasoned grounds for the Fifth Circuit to rule in favor of Governor Abbott, the state of Texas, and in the interests of our sovereignty and security of America her citizens. For these reason and others, we urge the Fifth Circuit to reverse the injunctive relief issued by the district court, issuing an order favorable to Governor Abbott.
Editor’s Note: To read all of our Amicus briefs, please visit our Law & Policy page.
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