Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick defends state’s response to border crisis: ‘We’ve had enough’
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick defends a new state policy that allows officials to arrest illegal migrants as the border crisis rages on.
Texas Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick asserted Thursday that new lawsuits against a fledgling state law allowing law enforcement to arrest individuals suspected of entering Texas illegally will stand up in court or at least in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Patrick further confirmed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has begun flying illegal migrants into Chicago because Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson enacted a policy impounding migrant buses.
He also reamed out the Biden administration for its continued inaction and what he called fallacies coming from Biden spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre — who called Texas' new law "extreme" and "dehumaniz[ing]."
"I'm tired of [Jean-Pierre's] lies — I'm tired of this administration's lies — they are saying just the opposite of what is happening," Patrick told Fox News.
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"They're the ones that have a policy that is seeing Americans killed by fentanyl. They're the ones who are seeing terrorists cross over our border. We know, we've arrested about 300. They're the ones that are responsible for keeping people drowning in the river. They're the ones responsible for women being raped across the border illegally."
Patrick said President Biden is proving himself to be "cold-hearted" and sanctioning an invasion.
He added that, in his role as the Texas state Senate's presiding officer, he was heavily involved in the passage of the suspected illegal immigrant detention law, and confirmed state lawmakers' belief that they will have legal standing under the Constitution's Article I Section X.
That excerpt states that no state shall without congressional consent impose duties-of-tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in times of peace "unless actually invaded or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay."
"We [in Texas] believe in the Constitution more than the president of the United States," Patrick said. "But our founders never envisioned a president who would allow us to be invaded by opening our borders to millions of people."
Citing recent statistics of the 8 million reported illegal crossers in 2023, he noted that figure is enough people to be the 13th state if they were all in the same place.
The figure is also equivalent to the entire population of New York City — the nation's largest — entering the U.S. illegally in one year.
Patrick also lauded his boss, Abbott, for working around Johnson's — the new Chicago mayor — outrage over migrants being bused to his sanctuary city.
He said officials like Johnson publicly celebrate their sanctuary city status until it actually is utilized.
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"Well, now they're [the illegal immigrants] here — they don't want them," he said. "We want to put pressure on blue states."
Patrick added that he would like to see Abbott's bussing program expanded to Delaware, citing Biden's residences there that are located in Greenville and Rehoboth Beach.
"I want to send them all to Delaware and Rehoboth. I want to send them all to where they start feeling the pain that our citizens feel on the border and across Texas every day," he said.
In 2022, when Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis flew a planeload of migrants to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, Delaware officials stated they were making preparations in case any future flights land in their state.
A spokeswoman for Delaware Democratic Gov. John Carney told CNN at the time that Dover was coordinating with federal officials and are "prepared to welcome these families in an orderly manner."
Additionally, former Pennsylvania state Sen. Mario Scavello had announced a plan in the prior legislative session that would bus migrants landing in Allentown and Pittston on "ghost flights" to Wilmington, Delaware.
Delaware's only major airport, Wilmington-New Castle, is just a few miles south of President Biden's residence.
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