WASHINGTON - Adding an unusual proposal to the searing debate over illegal immigration, U.S. Rep. John Culberson of Houston introduced a bill late Thursday to let Texas and other border states establish armed militias to catch people trying to illegally cross from Mexico and Canada.
The bill, which he called a "thunderclap," is more than a solitary, symbolic gesture by the Republican lawmaker: It has 46 Republican co-sponsors.
It comes as the White House, Congress and local officials are becoming increasingly immersed in efforts to find the best way to secure the borders and perhaps also establish a "guest worker" program to let immigrants stay in the United States as temporary legal residents.
Gov. Rick Perry indicated he is open to Culberson's idea... Among Culberson's co-sponsors are 10 Texans, including freshmen Reps. Ted Poe of Humble and Michael McCaul of Austin.
The measure's stated goal is to let governors create a Border Protection Corps of citizens to shield the country from "uniquely devious, criminal, cowardly and fanatically determined" terrorist organizations.
Culberson said the militia provisions in the Constitution must be invoked because the U.S. Border Patrol lacks the resources to deal with any surge in illegal crossings by people who may have ties to terrorist groups... He pointed to the militialike Texas Rangers, which formed in the 1830s and had several violent clashes with Mexicans and robbers in the border area in the early 1900s...
It would essentially create an authorized version of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, the Arizona-based group that sent hundreds of volunteers to patrol the state's border with Mexico and has plans to expand to Texas and California. The militias would require participants to be free of criminal background or history of mental illness. They would be authorized to "use any means and any force authorized by state law" to stop illegal crossers and hand them over to federal authorities.
Funding for the militias would come from some of the unspent portions of the $6.8 billion set aside by the federal government for emergency workers who would be among the first to respond to terrorist acts. The money would also go toward detaining, housing and transporting those who are taken into custody. In 2004, Border Patrol agents intercepted 1.1 million people illegally entering the country.
Immigration rights advocates and other critics of the Minutemen could not be reached for comment after Culberson announced his bill. |