Below is a bill being filed by 32nd District representative, Monty Fritts. The bill would declare an invasion of the southern border and provide support to defend the border.

Hopefully, it will be passed.

AMEND Senate Bill No. 2538 House Bill No. 2190 by deleting all language after the caption and substituting instead the following:

WHEREAS, the Congressional Committee on Homeland Security reports that the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol had 6.2 million encounters with illegal aliens in FY2023; and

WHEREAS, the Congressional Committee on Homeland Security reports that there were an additional 1.7 million illegal aliens who are known to have entered the U.S. after evading the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol; and

WHEREAS, one hundred sixty-nine individuals on the Terrorist Watchlist were stopped trying to cross into the U.S. from Mexico; and

WHEREAS, there has been a 40% increase in encounters with illegal aliens at our southwest border since President Biden took office in 2021; and

WHEREAS, the Governor of Texas has declared that conditions along the U.S.-Mexican border in Texas constitute an invasion of his state and our country; now, therefore,

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:

SECTION 1.

(a) In accordance with Article 3, Section 5 of the Constitution of Tennessee, which states, "[T]he Militia shall not be called into service except in case of rebellion or invasion, and then only when the General Assembly shall declare, by law, that the public safety requires it[,]" the General Assembly authorizes the Governor of the State of Tennessee to deploy up to a brigade-sized force to Texas to assist in repelling the invasion at the southern border of the United Sta

(b) The deployment authorized in subsection (a) shall not exceed one (1) year without additional approval from the General Assembly, such approval to be finalized no less than ninety (90) days prior to the expiration of the original deployment authorization. If obtaining such authorization requires the Governor to call the General Assembly into extraordinary session and the extraordinary session would fall within thirty (30) days of the General Assembly convening in accordance with Article II, Section 8 of the Constitution of Tennessee, then the deadline for obtaining the extension is extended for thirty (30) days to allow the General Assembly to act upon the extension without an extraordinary session being called. Any extension shall not exceed six (6) months without additional authorization from the General Assembly.

(c) If the General Assembly fails to authorize an extension, then those deployed soldiers shall be returned to Tennessee within ninety (90) days of the expiration of the most recent authorization.

(d) The Military Department shall provide monthly reports, which may include briefings, regarding the deployment to the General Assembly for the duration of the deployment.

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.