Texas Governor Gregg Abbott will reportedly send 10 M113 armored personnel carriers to the border just a couple of days after sending out a tweet invoking the “invasion clause” of the US and Texas constitution because of the extremely high numbers of migrants entering the US through the Texas-Mexico border.
On Wednesday, Governor Abbott invoked a constitutional clause warning President Biden that Texas would defend itself from the growing rate of migrants crossing into Texas, which he terms a “migrant invasion.”
Governor Abbott said the Texas National Guard will send the M113 armored vehicles to the southern border as part of his “Operation Lone Star,” with the Texas Military Department announcing that around 50 soldiers would undergo training to operate them.
Armored personnel carriers are huge vehicles that move on tank-style treads instead of regular wheels to negotiate through rough terrain. They are designed to transport troops into battle and are affectionately nicknamed fixed “battle taxis” by army troops.
At a whopping $300,000 for a new M133, the vehicles are bulletproof and can withstand a small explosion. The military can also fit them with grenade launchers, heavy machine guns, and anti-tank missiles. It is still being determined whether they will fit the vehicles sent to the border with any weapons.
The US recently sent hundreds of M113s to Ukraine to help them fight Russia.
The Texas Military Department said that sending the armored personnel vehicles was part of a larger strategy by the state to use tools available to them in the fight against illegal immigration.
The department also announced that they would increase aircraft flights and security efforts in addition to the armored personnel carriers to safeguard the border.
In a letter sent out on Wednesday, Governor Abbott told President Biden that Texas was taking the migrant crisis at the border very seriously. He said that the president’s policies had led to catastrophic consequences and that Texas residents were paying the price for the federal government’s failure to secure the border.
Governor Abbott’s tweet also condemned the president for not responding to their pleas to close the border and for failing to visit the border and see the unfolding situation for himself. According to Governor Abbott, President Biden’s silence on the border crisis for the last two years had forced him to escalate efforts to secure Texas.
Abbott invoked the constitutional clause found in Article 1 Section 10 of the US constitution, which forbids US states from taking any unilateral military action unless they are invaded or are in imminent danger such that they cannot afford to delay.
In addition to sending armored personnel vehicles, Governor Abbott wants to build a wall in several parts of the border and send gunboats to the border. He also wants to label Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations despite the federal government being the only authority that can do that.
The surge in migrants seeking asylum in the US and attempting to cross the country through the Mexican border since 2021 has caused a huge strain on the US federal immigration system. The most recent CPB data shows over 200,000 undocumented migrants crossed into the US in October.
In 2021, over 2.3 million migrants were recorded along the southern border, with 1.6 million being adults and 152,000 unaccompanied minors.
