Op-Ed: Unacceptable: The Current Federal Government has a Disturbing Pattern of not Protecting our Borders or our Elections

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has been embroiled in battle with the federal government over an invasion of illegal aliens. Abbott cites not just the failure of the federal government to do its constitutionally required duties to protect our borders, but the willful misconduct by the White House in enabling the invasion. Abbott cites national security concerns with military-aged men crossing without background checks, the unprecedented flow of fentanyl and other drugs that come with the illegal crossings, and massive cartel funding as they traffic humans for sex and illegal work.

I’d like to add one more significant concern with the unsecure border, and that is election interference. There is little doubt that those illegal aliens will have opportunities to illegally register to vote and tip the balance of purple districts in favor of one party’s candidates. During the 2020 Census, the White House fought vigorously to include every person, regardless of citizenship, in the census. With a razor-thin margin in the U.S. House of Representatives, statistically, this stood to benefit one political party and affect elections in divided voting districts.

In states with same-day registration, mail-in ballots, drop boxes, no voter ID, and other less-than-secure voting procedures, there is no doubt some of the 6 million illegal aliens who have entered the U.S. under the current presidential administration will have opportunities to find a way to vote in other states in the upcoming election.

My background is in international law and military law. International law addresses the elements of a nation-state beginning with a defined territory—that is, a secure border. The two strongest and most famous articles in military law are Article 51 of the U.N. Charter which says states have the right to self-defense, and Article 5 of NATO which says an attack on one is an attack on all.

That brings me to the current situation in Texas. The federal government has failed to do its duty to secure the southern border, as required by Art. 4, Sec. 4 of the U.S. Constitution. Texas has every right to defend its border, and West Virginia joins other states in supporting Texas. There is clear precedent to do so, and it goes back to 1775 and the Beeline March to Cambridge.

When Boston Harbor was under siege by the British, General George Washington called for reinforcements. That call was answered by Captain Hugh Stephenson and his Berkeley County Riflemen. Wearing buckskin shirts emblazoned with “Liberty or Death,” they marched 600 miles in 25 days to reach Cambridge. When Washington saw them arrive, he knew for the first time he had a “united states” Army. With the riflemen's help, the Army held the line and repelled the alien aggressors.

Today we stand at a crossroads. Instead of the 1775 invasion of Massachusetts, we have Texas being overrun in 2024. Do we as sovereign States stand together, march to the border, and help stop the invasion of our country, or do we do as Patrick Henry worried in his “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech: are we to "lie supinely on our backs and hug the delusional phantom of hope" that the invasion will not reach us?

An attack on one is an attack on all of us. We have the right to self-defense. Considering the multiple fentanyl deaths each day in WV, the invasion is upon us and we should stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Texas to defend the border. The 2024 election cannot come soon enough. We need to elect leaders who will do their duty, support and defend the Constitution, keep our elections clean, and secure our border. Mac Warner is serving his second term as WV Secretary of State. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and spent 23 years in the United States Army where he retired at the rank of Lt. Colonel. He then served five years stationed in Afghanistan with the U.S. State Department.