My step-son Danilo recently arrived in this country, having just emigrated from the Philippines—a long journey and his first plane flight. It took us 17 years to follow the process legally. His mother and I are most assuredly not for amnesty of illegal aliens. The whole idea is so unfair, and it shifts the decision for who gets to enter in and stay, from black, white and brown Americans living here and paying the taxes, to the foreigners who trespass and then claim services and rights. That’s why there’s a legal process, and that’s why there are people standing in a line, and that’s why they call it the Rule of Law and self-determination of the American people.
Border security and immigration (legal and illegal).
The federal government (Article One, Section 8; US Constitution) is tasked to defend the borders. In reality, the Texas DPS is expending tremendous effort (at tremendous cost) to do the job the federal government is formally tasked to do. Consequently, many have suggested Texas submit the bill for its self-defense to the federal government.
What is my position on border security and immigration as well as the idea of Texas billing the federal government for services rendered?
The United States is a union comprised of equal sovereigns. Moreover, the federal government and individual states are dual sovereigns in their respective orbits, their rights and powers equally inviolable and distinct, albeit complementary. While it is true that defense of national borders is a quintessential federal responsibility, it is also true that state borders are every bit as inviolate as the nation’s, whether they are coincident or not. Long before the federal government took control of immigration issues and control of borders in this respect, states controlled their own borders and processed immigrants. They did so at Ellis Island (New York) and at Galveston Island (Texas). States, therefore, should revisit the notion that defense of borders, as well as immigration control, is a shared responsibility. Malfeasance or negligence on the part of the federal government may in fact necessitate aggressive action on the part of the states to compensate or to address emerging emergency situations. Nonetheless, Texas should definitely submit its bill for self defense to the federal government for activities reasonably attributed to it and/or claimed by the federal government for exclusive jurisdiction where it also fails to enforce its own laws or take charge of said jurisdiction. Better yet, Texas should withhold the total sum from the federal government and just call it “Payroll Deduction.”