Burnet County resolution says border under ‘invasion,’ requests action
Burnet County Sheriff Calvin Boyd (left) is introduced at a border media conference in Brackettville on July 5. The conference was held by officials in 22 of the Texas counties along the state’s border with Mexico calling on Gov. Greg Abbott to take action against illegal immigration. Courtesy photo
What happens in terms of security along the border between Mexico and the United States affects Burnet County, Sheriff Calvin Boyd said at a Commissioners Court meeting Tuesday, Sept. 13.
Boyd and Precinct 2 Commissioner Damon Beierle traveled to a border media conference July 5 that called on Gov. Greg Abbott to declare the border under invasion. The pair returned with a resolution in hand that they presented to commissioners on Tuesday. The resolution was written by Kinney County Attorney Brent Smith. Kinney County is on the Mexican border.
Boyd spoke at the media conference in July.
“They asked me to speak because we (Burnet County) are only four hours away,” he told DailyTrib.com after the Tuesday meeting. “They wanted to hear how it may be affecting us up here.”
He said a “lack of border security” adversely affects local school districts and health care in the Highland Lakes.
“We are having some folks dropped off in the area,” he said. “Some come in a car and are let out in restaurant parking lots.”
Commissioners approved the resolution by a 4-0 vote. Precinct 3 Commissioner Billy Wall was not present.
The resolution states that Burnet County commissioners:
1. recognize the southern Texas border is suffering an invasion;
2. recognize and affirm the state’s authority under the U.S. and state constitutions to protect against invasion;
3. support the state-led efforts of Operation Lone Star;
4. request Gov. Abbott take the steps necessary to stop the invasion;
5. and call upon the federal government to uphold its duty to secure and protect its borders
Operation Lone Star launched in March 2021. Abbott called it a response to increased illegal immigration across the Mexico-Texas border. He also issued a disaster declaration for 48 counties along the border related to illegal border crossings. Officials in 22 of those counties called the summer media conference.
The resolution resulting from that media conference points to crossings by drug cartels and human traffickers, calling them paramilitary, narco-terrorist organizations that have “a major health and public safety issue with methamphetamines, which greatly impacts our communities, our families, our jail, our court system, and our other local resources.
“The big thing for me is that when I started my career in 1986, and now as sheriff, public safety has always been my number one concern,” Boyd told DailyTrib.com when asked why he presented the resolution to the court.
Beierle said the resolution is an important tool to show support for the border counties.
“Those counties need our help, and if we (Burnet County) can be a part of bringing light to that, then that’s the goal,” he told DailyTrib.com after the meeting.
