Paxton Backs Congressional Resolution Affirming States' Right to Repel Border 'Invasion'

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton threw his office's weight behind a congressional resolution that would enshrine states' constitutional right to defend themselves against a border "invasion" - the same legal theory Texas uses to justify Senate Bill 4, its state immigration enforcement law. Paxton issued a statement Wednesday supporting House Resolution 50, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Lubbock. The resolution would affirm that states retain sovereign authority under Article I, Section 10 of the Constitution to exclude unlawfully present foreign nationals when facing an "invasion," and that the federal government's Article IV duty to protect states from invasion creates a backstop when Washington fails to act. SB4, passed in 2023, lets state and local police arrest people for illegal entry or reentry and lets state judges order their deportation. Immigrant advocacy groups sued to block it, and a federal judge issued an injunction, ruling the law likely encroached on federal authority over immigration. In April, the Fifth Circuit reversed that injunction on a 10-7 en banc vote, but only on procedural grounds - the court found the plaintiffs lacked standing, leaving SB4's constitutionality untested on the merits. "H.Res.50 serves as a vindication of Texas's actions to defend its borders and a repudiation of the Biden-era legal attacks against our state," Paxton said. "The Biden Administration allowed for the infiltration of illegal aliens and criminals into our country that led to an invasion-level border crisis. My office successfully defended SB 4, which protects Texas's right to arrest illegals, protect our citizens, and enforce immigration law. I am in strong support of H.Res.50 as it further affirms that the Constitution's Self-Defense Clause gives states an independent right to act when invaded, as Texas was under Joe Biden." Arrington said the resolution guards against a future administration reversing course on enforcement. "Congress must act now to ensure Texas and other border states are never again defenseless against the open-border Biden-era policies that flooded our state and nation with dangerous criminal aliens and deadly fentanyl," he said. "That's why I introduced H.Res.50 - to ensure states like Texas are never again forced to be passive victims of a federal government that refuses to secure the border." The resolution carries no legal force on its own and wouldn't resolve the standing question the Fifth Circuit left open. But it signals Texas's congressional delegation intends to keep pushing the invasion theory behind the state's border enforcement strategy, even as SB4's constitutionality remains unsettled in court. Photo by - Gage Skidmore