Denton County Commissioners Court unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday in support of the state’s authority to secure the border, stop cartel smuggling of people, drugs, and weapons into the state and to prevent, detect and interdict transnational criminal activity between ports of entry.
“We have a resolution here related to our border security and this is something that has been a great topic here nationally and across the State of Texas, and here in Denton County over the last several years,” said Denton County Judge Andy Eads. “And this is a resolution expressing our support of the State of Texas and their efforts to increase border security.”
The resolution approved by the Court reads as follows:
“WHEREAS, securing the international border is the federal government’s responsibility and by refusing to enforce the immigration laws enacted by Congress, the federal government has been derelict in their duties to secure our border; and
WHEREAS, Governor Greg Abbott, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas National Guard, and county and local law enforcement officers are using legal authority vested by the Texas Constitution and guaranteed by the United States Constitution to secure the border, stop the cartel smugglings of people, drugs, and weapons into Texas and prevent, detect, and interdict transnational criminal activity between ports of entry; and
WHEREAS, the Texas Legislature has allocated over $11.5 billion to fund Governor Abbott’s border security mission, Operation Lone Star. Since its launch in March 2021, the multi-agency effort has led to over 498,300 illegal immigrant apprehensions and more than 39,200 criminal arrests, with more than 35,400 felony charges. In the fight against the fentanyl crisis, Texas law enforcement has seized over 458 million lethal doses of fentanyl, more than enough to kill every man, woman, and child in the United States; and
WHEREAS, the officials of nearly 100 counties in Texas have issued disaster declarations or declared an invasion, or both, and expressed support for Operation Lone Star to secure the border against Foreign Terrorist Organizations and non-state actors and secure Texas sovereignty; and
WHEREAS, the ongoing border security crisis is not acceptable, resulting in a national security threat and humanitarian disaster with overwhelming consequences to the people of Texas.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Denton County Commissioners Court: 1) Recognizes our southern Texas border is suffering an invasion, which poses imminent danger; and 2) Stands in full support of Governor Abbott, our Texas Legislative Delegation, and the state-led efforts of Operation Lone Star to defend Texas’ sovereignty and secure the Texas border; and 3) Calls upon the federal government to uphold its duties to adequately secure and protect the borders of the United States.”
Precinct 1 Commissioner Ryan Williams said the Court is committed to addressing the ongoing issues of human trafficking with available resources “to fight back and prevent this from becoming more of a continued epidemic. At any given time in Texas, there are over 200,000 victims of labor trafficking and over 70,000 victims of minor sex trafficking. To combat these statistics, the Denton County Court previously implemented a Human Trafficking Investigation Unit as part of the Denton County Sheriff’s Office. It is mobilized to fight human trafficking.”
Commissioner Williams said the unit, implemented by the court several years ago, is an example of how the county has been working to stay ahead of the issue.
“Unfortunately, it takes not just our county but every county in between here and the border. And hopefully we can get the government, not the state but the federal government, to realize how important this is, step in and start doing a little bit more to help Texas,” he added.
Precinct 2 Commissioner Kevin W. Falconer agreed the issue is a major problem for Denton County.
“We sit here with I-35 right through our county and it is the direct line down to the border and we are seeing a bit of a wave that we didn’t see” when the border first opened, he said. “We see it now. One of those is fentanyl even here in Denton County. In Carrollton, we lost three young people to fentanyl that was brought” illegally across the border.
“It is a crisis,” Commissioner Falconer said. “It affects the entire nation. But we see it, every bit, we see it happening right here in our county.”
Precinct 3 Commissioner Bobbie J. Mitchell thanked both police officers and public safety employees for their dedication to keeping the county, state, and nation safe. “It’s taking a toll on police officers,” she said. “With 27 percent of the budget that we’re using on our public safety, I think we have to be aware of what’s going on and we have to take a stand on making sure we keep Denton County safe first and then all the other counties around.”
Commissioner Mitchell said it was the responsible thing for the Court to do “to make sure we’re doing all we can in Denton County to make a difference in all of the things we’re talking about – the trafficking, the drugs and all of that.”
Commissioner Williams emphasized it was important that “people realize that’s why we gave the large increase that we recently did to our public safety. We’re supporters of that unlike some of the cities and counties around the state.”
“I think it’s imperative that citizens realize how important that is to us,” he said. “And we don’t just say it, we back it financially by making sure that they’re taken care of.”
Precinct 4 Commissioner Dianne Edmondson pointed out that Gov. Abbott has visited Denton County several times this year to push what Legislators are doing to help him shut down the border. “So, I really appreciate the fact that we passed this to let our elected officials know we watch, we see what they’re doing, and we appreciate what they’re doing in this,” she said.
Judge Eads called the resolution a good way to memorialize the Court’s opinion on the border crisis at this point in history. As a longtime Denton County resident and member of many non-profit boards over the years, he has heard about the human trafficking that has occurred, impacting children locally as well as across the state and the U.S.
“I believe, if you listen to Bob Williams (founder and CEO of Ranch Hands Rescue and Bob’s House of Hope in Denton County) talking, he’ll say that human trafficking is a bigger industry than the drug industry in the U.S. and worldwide. So much of that is coming across our border,” he said.
“When you think of $11.5 billion dollars of Texas taxpayers’ money spent on this, I’m glad the state is making those investments,” Judge Eads said. “But just imagine if they weren’t having to invest 11 billion dollars on this one issue, what they could do for teachers, what they could do for classrooms, what they could do for the roads that we’re building here” and what could be done for mental health to make this a better county.
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