Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan kills key border bill, HB 20
May 21, 2023 | Austin, TX
With an endless stream of illegal immigrants crossing the border and our Texas National Guard standing in the breach, House Speaker Dade Phelan chose to sustain a Democrat point of order on May 9, effectively killing HB 20 by sending it back to committee past the deadline for it to be considered. Speaker Dade Phelan’s ruling on the point of order is found here.
HB 20 by Representative Matt Schaefer of District 6 was set to create a state law enforcement agency to deal with the border crisis.
Just the day before, Governor Greg Abbott deployed 10,000 National Guard members as a Texas Tactical Border Force against migrants waiting to storm the border once Title 42 ended. The Texas National Guard is patrolling the border with Black Hawk helicopters and C-130s to push back the invasion along the southern border.
On May 16, Governor Abbott urged the nation’s Governors to help support Texas’s unprecedented border security efforts in the wake of President Biden’s continued refusal to enforce federal immigration laws. In letters sent to each of his fellow Governors, Governor Abbott requested support in responding to the ongoing border crisis through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, which enables states to provide assistance and share resources with another state in response to a disaster or emergency.
“The flood of illegal border activity invited by the Biden Administration flows directly across the southern border into Texas communities, but this crisis does not stop in our state,” reads the letter. “In the federal government’s absence, we, as Governors, must band together to combat President Biden’s ongoing border crisis and ensure the safety and security that all Americans deserve.
Governor Abbott called on other states to send “all available law enforcement” to Texas and thanked the states of Idaho and Florida, which have recently stepped up to offer assistance with law enforcement support and assets.
Border bills still in play
Two key pieces of legislation, HB 7 and HB 800, have successfully passed the House and both have been placed on the Senate Intent Calendar for May 22. A third, SCR 23, is still waiting for a hearing in the House State Affairs Committee.
HB 800 was reported out of the Senate Border Security Committee on Friday. According to Montgomery County Rep. Will Metcalf (HD 16), who co-authored HB 800, the bill “increases penalties for criminal conduct related to the smuggling of persons or the operation of stash houses. It includes provisions for consecutive sentencing for offenses arising for the same criminal episode, as well as increased punishments based on the severity of the offense and the circumstances surrounding it, leading to increased punishments for those involved in more egregious acts. By increasing the criminal penalties for such offenses, it sends a clear message that these actions will not be tolerated in Texas.”
HB 7 was also reported out of the Senate Border Security Committee on Friday. In the wake of Speaker Phelan’s point of order ruling that killed HB 20, Rep. Ryan Guillen of District 31 managed to amend HB 7 to add the Border Protection Unit that was lost with HB 20, but the bill is still lacking some of what it needs to secure the border.
According to Rep. Metcalf, who also co-authored HB 7, the bill “introduces the Legislative Border Security Oversight committee, tasked with conducting research and offering recommendations to shape state border safety policies while also overseeing the activities of the newly proposed Border Protection Unit (BPU). The BPU is authorized to apprehend, detain, and deter illegal border crossings, in addition to managing the construction and upkeep of physical barriers such as a border wall. The legislation further establishes a specialized border protection court to handle border-related matters for the state. The bill aims to mitigate shortages in funding and provides compensation to property owners affected by illegal border crossings.”
However, according to Texas Eagle Forum and Tom Glass, Texas Constitutional Enforcement & Texas Conservative Grassroots Coalition Leader, the bill is still lacking what it needs to protect the border. Read their analysis and action steps here.
In addition, HB 7 does not include a critical section that gives Texans the right to independent, no-permission-needed self-defense. That element is included in SCR 23 by Senator Lois Kolkhorst of District 18.
According to Senator Lois Kolkhorst (SD 18), “I’ve written SCR 23 to declare that Texas has been invaded and demand our government to declare foreign drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and clearly declare that Texas citizens are in danger of irreparable harm.”
SCR 23 passed the Senate last month 30-1, and Senator Kolkhorst believes it still has a chance in the House. It is waiting for a hearing in the House State Affairs Committee.