A shocking poll by the Southern Poverty Law Center shows that more than 50 percent of Republicans and nearly 40 percent of Democrats think a civil war could soon erupt.

Most disturbing to many of us is how violence is being used as a political tactic and it’s also appalling that the multiple mass terrorist attacks have become mainstream in recent years, including those targeting Jews, Asians and Christians.

The mention of a civil war in America is shocking, especially when one realizes that the 1861-65 Civil War cost 620,000 lives - about 2 percent of the total population at the time, which translates into 6 million souls in today’s percentage.

There are ominous comparisons between today’s unrest and what Americans faced 160 years ago. During the early 1860s, states’ rights - the federal government and individual states struggled over political power. Slavery was an issue then, just as abortion rights and the mass influx of immigrants are pivotal hot-button social issues dividing states today.

Last week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order authorizing and empowering the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety to apprehend foreign nationals who illegally cross the Mexican border into Texas and return them to the border. The southern border had more than 239,000 migrant encounters in May alone, and Abbott said that there were 5,000 migrant apprehensions in Texas alone over Independence Day weekend.

In his statement, Abbott said the cartels have become emboldened and enriched by President Biden’s open border policies, smuggling in record numbers of people, weapons, and deadly drugs such as fentanyl.

“While President Biden refuses to do his job and enforce the immigration laws enacted by Congress, the state of Texas is once again stepping up and taking unprecedented action to protect Americans and secure our southern border,” he stated.

At a press conference two days before Abbott’s action, six county judges made declarations of invasion after hearing officials tell how their communities are being inundated by immigrants and how drugs are being smuggled through their small towns every day.

“We’re being invaded. The facts are there,” said Kinney County Judge Tully Shahan. “This is real. We want America to know this is real. America doesn’t know what’s happening here.”

Goliad County Judge Mike Bennett and Goliad County Sheriff Roy Boyd said in a joint statement that they support Abbott’s action but until a declaration of invasion is issued, Texas does not possess the legal authority to remove illegal immigrants from the country. Until that happens, they vowed to continue doing their part to prevent and “suppress criminal activity brought to our doorstep by this invasion of transnational organized crime.”

Ken Cuccinelli, senior fellow at the Center for Renewing America, said an invasion can be declared under the “self-help” provision of the Constitution, allowing the governor authority to repeal that invasion.

Boyd, who has been fighting cartel-related trafficking activity at the border, said that Goliad, as it did during the Texas Revolution, has an important role to play in defending the Lone Star State. From the time of Texas independence from Mexico until today, he said that Texans have shown a rugged individualist mentality, spurring them to take matters into our own hands instead of waiting for answers and permission from a federal government that may never come.

He said that this spirit of independence, along with our sense of duty to our fellow man, is what drives his county to take bold steps during times of crisis.

“We are compelled to act within the constitutional limits set by our forefathers in order to preserve the way of life they envisioned and we enjoy,” he said.

By Jim Zbick | tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.