IMMIGRATIONTwo More Texas Counties Declare Invasion, Bringing Total to 55

By Bethany Blankley, The Center Square

Published 8 March 2024

Two more Texas counties declared an invasion at the southern border, bringing the total to 55.County judge: ‘I’m tired of’ fentanyl poisonings occurring on weekly basis.

Two more Texas counties declared an invasion at the southern border, bringing the total to 55.

Denton and Williamson counties declared an invasion on March 5, passing short, one-page resolutions.

Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell Jr., who supported passing the resolution, said he did so because the county was experiencing a fentanyl poisoning crisis. The commissioner’s court “has made huge leaps to fund our fentanyl task force, led by one of our local detectives,” he said. “They’re doing an amazing job, but the reality is in Williamson County we have fentanyl poisoning on a weekly basis. I just want to say this: I’m tired of it.”

Three teenagers from the county died from fentanyl poisoning within a few months in 2022. Their parents created The Forever 15 Project and have testified before Congress. Another mother from the county, whose son was killed from fentanyl poisoning at 19, founded Texas Against Fentanyl. She has also testified about the fentanyl crisis and attended the State of the Union address Thursday night.

Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday night after the president’s State of the Union address that American families “are grieving as a direct result of the Biden Administration’s inaction to secure our border and keep dangerous drugs and criminals off our streets.” Until the president does his job, Abbott argued, “Texas will hold the line and use every tool and strategy to keep our country safe.”

“We can say that the border crisis has nothing to do with Williamson County and as far as who’s entering legally or illegally,” Gravell said. “But one thing that we can’t disagree on is because of the border crisis, fentanyl is entering our country and it’s killing our children. I’m a grandfather of five and I will use every tool at my disposal to protect that next generation. We have people that are working tirelessly in Williamson County to get drugs off of the street. I want to be clear, if you choose to come into our community … to kill our children then we choose to hold you accountable. God values our kids, and we value our children as well.”