KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas – Although two commissioners abstained from a vote earlier this morning, the Kaufman County Commissioners' Court approved a resolution – which is purely symbolic and carries no legal weight – telling the federal government not to house illegal immigrant minors in Kaufman County, Texas.
KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas – Although two commissioners abstained from a vote earlier this morning, the Kaufman County Commissioners' Court approved a resolution – which is purely symbolic and carries no legal weight – telling the federal government not to house illegal immigrant minors in Kaufman County, Texas.
The resolution comes after Kaufman County Tea Party Chairman Ray Myers, Senator-elect Bob Hall, and Representative-elect Stuart Spitzer, both Tea Party candidates, appealed to the commissioners' court last week to pass a resolution stating health and safety concerns for Kaufman County residents due to an influx of illegal immigrant minors crossing the Texas-Mexico border.
The item was placed on today's agenda as item #8, “Discuss/Consider Resolution To Protect the Health, Safety and Security of the Residents of Kaufman County Texas,” and made no mention to illegal immigrants – an issue a couple commissioners stated needed clarification. According to county officials, the federal government has not made any inquires with the county to house illegal immigrant children in the county.
The resolution states that “housing illegal alien minors in Kaufman County, Texas, is not in the best interest of the public” and urges federal legislators and elected officials to take prompt actions to secure the Texas-Mexico border and cease actions to relocate the minors to communities across Texas.
The resolution also requests additional resources for the Border Patrol, the enhancement of smuggling and human trafficking laws, and to employ a contiguous physical barrier where strategically prudent along the Texas-Mexico border.
Commissioners Jimmy Vrzalik and Kenneth Schoen voted to approve the resolution while Commissioners Ray Clark and Tom Manning abstained from voting. Kaufman County Judge Bruce Wood provided the third voted needed to pass the resolution, 3-0. Clark and Manning stated they were in favor of some form of a resolution but requested the item be tabled to clarify the item's agenda description.
Today, Texas Governor Rick Perry directed Texas Adjutant General John Nichols to immediately begin preparations to deploy 1,000 National Guard troops to the Texas-Mexico border. The troops will aid the Texas Department of Public Safety's Operation Strong Safety which is aimed at combating criminal activity in the region.
The “Resolution To Protect the Health, Safety, and Security of the Residents of Kaufman County, Texas” reads as follows:
WHEREAS the citizens of Kaufman County, Texas recognize their duty as law abiding citizens to act in accordance with the U.S. Constitution and the Texas Constitution, and are endowed with rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which our government has been instituted to secure; and
WHEREAS the federal government is failing to protect the borders of our country in accordance with Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution; and
WHEREAS it is estimated that more than 90,000 illegal alien minors will arrive in the United States during 2014 and an additional 145,000 illegal alien minors during 2015, with most expected to remain in Texas cities and communities; and
WHEREAS Texas Governor Rick Perry has concluded, based on his oversight of executive functions in the State of Texas and his communications with federal agencies in that capacity that the federal government is operating with “ulterior motives” in a manner that is “not the best interest of American citizens” by permitting and encouraging the entry of large numbers of illegal immigrants into the State of Texas; and
WHEREAS Oklahoma Congressman Tom Cole has accurately concluded that the federal government is “essentially incentivizing the flow of this population by not returning the unaccompanied juveniles to their countries of origins quickly; and
WHEREAS incentivizing minors to enter the United States illegally puts those minors at risk of physical danger, including violence and sexual abuse, which has resulted in injury and death to multiple unaccompanied minors; and
WHEREAS the federal government is transporting and placing illegal alien minors into Texas towns and counties, to accommodate the unprecedented overflow of illegal aliens and unaccompanied minors; and
WHEREAS the current influx of unaccompanied minors across the Southern border of the United States has overwhelmed the capacity of the federal authorities to process these persons in an efficient manner; and
WHEREAS federal law requires a judicial proceeding to determine whether minors from Guatemala, Honduras, and San Salvador are the victims of human trafficking or gang violence before deportation; and
WHEREAS the housing of these minors while awaiting required proceedings for deportation may severely strain local resources and impose an unstoppable burden upon local taxpayers; and
WHEREAS the care and custody of these minors is a responsibility of the federal government; and
WHEREAS the influx of school-age illegal minors will have an adverse effect on local school district educational funding, resources, campus security, public health, and safety; and
WHEREAS the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention require legal immigrants to receive a comprehensive medical exam and vaccination for a wide range of diseases, but these requirements are not being equally applied to illegal alien minors being admitted to the country; and
WHEREAS the Executive Director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons recently warned that by admitting large numbers of minors who come from countries where medical screenings are minimal and hygiene is poor, the United States is at risk for epidemics of serious diseases and viruses that the nation has not seen in years; and
WHEREAS the increasing volume of illegal aliens is financially crippling some cities and counties in the State of Texas by overwhelming the local medical, educational, law enforcement, and judicial systems; and
WHEREAS Governor Rick Perry warns that members of dangerous transnational criminal organizations and terror groups continue to exploit the situation to infiltrate the State of Texas for the purpose of establishing criminal and terrorist activities; and
WHEREAS without a secure border, Texas cities and communities cannot protect the health and safety of their citizens; and
WHEREAS the citizens of Kaufman County, Texas are rightly concerned about the impact of the ongoing, massive influx of illegal aliens; and
WHEREAS the State of Texas has the right and obligation to protect its citizens in accordance with Article 1, Section 1 of the Texas Constitution: Freedom and Sovereignty of State. Texas is a free and independent State, subject only to the Constitution of the United States, and the maintenance of our free institutions and the perpetuity of the Union depend upon the preservation of the right of local government, unimpaired to all the States and
Now, Therefore, Be it Resolved that the Commissioners' Court of Kaufman County, Texas hereby finds that the housing of illegal alien minors in Kaufman County, Texas is not in the best interest of the public.
Be it Further Resolved that the Commissioners' Court in Kaufman County, Texas hereby urges our state and federal legislators and elected officials to take a prompt action to end the influx of illegal aliens across our national border and cease relocation of illegal aliens into communities across the State of Texas and other states.
Be it Further Resolved that the Commissioners' Court of Kaufman County, Texas hereby encourages the federal government to proved additional resources for new and/or existing Border Patrol checkpoints and employ a contiguous physical barrier where strategically prudent.
Be it Further Resolved that the Commissioners' Court of Kaufman County, Texas hereby encourages the Texas State Legislature to enhance state smuggling and human trafficking laws and provide civil and criminal liability protections for Texan land owners against criminal trespassers.
Be it Further Resolved that copies of this Resolution be spread upon the minutes of this Court and provided to Kaufman County's state and federal elected legislative representatives.
Upon motion duly made and seconded, the above Resolution was passed on this 21st day of July, 2014.
