Texas Continues its Fight to Secure the Border; Indiana Targets Sanctuary Cities

Texas

This summer marked an important win, as well as a (temporary) setback, in Texas’ efforts to mitigate the effects of the Biden-Harris border crisis.

First the good news: Since Operation Lone Star was launched last year, Texas reports that illegal border crossings have plummeted by 85 percent. Operation Lone Star is a multifaceted state effort to deter illegal immigration into Texas. Among the things that Texas has done is erect its own barriers to deter illegal entry into the state. These include construction of its own border wall, placing shipping containers on its banks of the Rio Grande River and positioning buoys in parts of the Rio Grande River to deter illegal crossings.

Like every effort undertaken by Texas to secure its border with Mexico, the river buoys triggered a lawsuit by the Biden-Harris administration. The Biden- Harris Department of Justice (DOJ) claimed that the buoys violated Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act, which prohibits the “creation of any obstruction not affirmatively authorized by Congress, to the navigable capacity of any of the waters of the United States.” A federal district court sided with DOJ and ordered Texas to move the buoys to the Texas shoreline and this decision was affirmed by a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit.

Undeterred, Texas then petitioned for a rehearing in front of the entire Fifth Circuit, which was granted. On July 30, the Fifth Circuit ruled that the buoys can remain where they are until the district court holds a trial on the merits of DOJ’s lawsuit. That trial is likely to occur in November. Ironically, the success of Operation Lone Star has been a key factor in the decline in illegal border crossings in recent months, a phenomenon for which the Biden-Harris administration has been claiming credit for.

Late July also saw a legal setback for Texas in its battles with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that the state believes may have actually orchestrated illegal border crossings near El Paso and potentially other areas of the state. NGOs act as subcontractors to the federal government’s efforts to transport, shelter and provide for the needs of illegal aliens. These organizations receive billions in taxpayer money to provide these services and by supporting illegal aliens, they encourage more to come.

Texas Attorney General (AG) Ken Paxton sought to investigate the role of NGOs in aiding and abetting illegal immigration. When these NGOs, most notably Catholic Charities and Annunciation House, refused to respond to the AG’s inquiries, or provided an evasive answer, Paxton sought to depose officials of those organizations in person. However, two federal district court judges blocked the AG’s request for in-person depositions. Paxton is appealing these two lower court rulings, vowing that he will “continue vigorously enforcing the law against any NGO engaging in criminal conduct.”

Indiana

Earlier this year, a legislative effort led by FAIR resulted in Indiana strengthening its anti-sanctuary law. Working with state officials, FAIR helped draft legislation that gives Indiana’s Attorney General the authority to sue localities for adopting laws or policies that violate the state’s anti-sanctuary law. The law was set to take effect July 1, but even before then, West Lafayette removed from its ordinances sanctuary language that prohibited local law enforcement from holding criminal aliens on a federal detainer.

Three other jurisdictions, however, needed a little more convincing. Attorney General Todd Rokita used his new authority to sue Gary, East Chicago and Monroe County to strike down their sanctuary policies, and within a few weeks those policies in Gary and East Chicago were repealed.

Though these efforts do not get as much attention as federal immigration legislation, FAIR’s efforts to influence policies at the state and local level are paying dividends and helping citizens to make a real difference in their own communities.