Texas Passes Bill Allowing State Police to Arrest, Deport Illegal Immigrants
By: DAVID ZIMMERMANN
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The Texas House passed legislation on Tuesday making it a state crime to illegally cross the southern border, empowering state and local police to arrest and in some cases deport illegal immigrants, in what the bill’s supporters claim is a response to federal inaction.
Senate Bill 4 gives local and state government the authority to arrest illegal immigrants who enter Texas from Mexico between official ports of entry. Under SB 4, those who unlawfully cross the border can be charged with a state misdemeanor and face up to one year in prison. A felony charge, carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years, can be leveled if illegal immigrants are charged with additional crimes or don’t comply with a judge’s orders.
The bill also authorizes state judges to deport illegal aliens to Mexico rather than pursue prosecution under federal law. After getting approval from the Texas senate last week, the latest version of SB 4 now heads to Republican governor Greg Abbott’s desk, where he is expected to sign it into l
Republican state representative David Spiller, a sponsor of the landmark bill, said SB 4 intends to “stop the flow of illegal immigration” and that is not designed to prevent legal migrants from lawfully seeking asylum in the U.S. The state lawmaker also claimed SB 4 is constitutional because it’s “not in conflict” with Arizona v. U.S. , despite Democratic claims to the contrary.
“SB 4 intends to challenge the decade-long holding of Arizona versus United States , given the new makeup of the United States Supreme Court, which we have seen has already overturned [the] 50-year long precedent of Roe v. Wade,” Democratic state representative Victoria Neave Criado said. Spiller argued he is not attempting to overturn the Supreme Court decision.
The ACLU of Texas expressed opposition to SB4, saying it “overrides federal immigration law, fuels racial profiling and harassment, and gives state officials the unconstitutional ability to deport people without due process, regardless of whether they are eligible to seek asylum or other humanitarian protections.”
The state House also approved $1.5 billion in border barriers as part of a separate bill on Tuesday.
Abbott personally thanked Spiller and Republican state representative Jacey Jetton for pushing both bills in the Texas House. “I look forward to working with both chambers to get these priorities across the finish line,” the governor posted on X. “Texas won’t wait on Biden to secure the border.”
Nearly 189,000 illegal migrants crossed the southern border in October, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection report released Tuesday. That figure decreased 14 percent from the month prior.
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You go Texas!! Feds sit on their hands, you stand on your feet.
I am sure Joes minions will take this to court once again reinforcing their position on illegals streaming into the country as he tells us there is no crisis at the border.
Count on it. I'm surprised they haven't announced a suit already............
That was my first thought also. While I can applaud the idea I suspect that Texas will lose in court as immigration control is in the realm of the feds. IMO this is just another attempt at partisan politics that waste resources and time.
I do believe that if other states will do things like this, enough attention, (along with sending migrants to Democratic sanctuaries) the Biden Admin, may be forced to finally do something regarding the border crisis.
I do expect the law to be knocked down, but I really see no problem with local authorities assisting federal agencies in law enforcement. It is obvious the feds are simply overwhelmed.
The good thing may be that this is a state law now and has nothing to do with federal immigration law. They made it illegal, under Texas law, it is a STATE crime to illegally cross the border into Texas. One may think federal law overrides state law.......until one looks at states that have legalized marijuana use..................
I have a hard time believing that anything will really change even with 50% of states passing similar legislation as they have to fight against the current administration and the partisan divide in this country. The outcry from Democrat sanctuaries is not so much for the Biden administration to fix the border but more to prevent any more to be sent to their cities. They bitch about the numbers they are dealing with but don't say a thing about the border states and the burden they have been carrying all this time.
I agree that the feds are overwhelmed, but it's due to the decisions and policies made by the administration. From what I can see, the local authorities are able to assist the feds but the policy of the feds is just to 'catch and release' anyway. The only places where the locals will not cooperate with the feds is in blue cities / states where local governments have passed laws to prevent local authorities from even calling the feds.
This is not due to federal law not being able to override, but more that the feds are not really bothering to do so. The feds could ride in on this, but the optics would be bad for which ever political party is in office which would result in a lot of changed votes. As most politicians first job is to do what they must to be re-elected, the decision to not interfere with states in this matter is a political decision.
What would their argument be? "Texas is passing and enforcing laws that mirror the federal laws that the Biden Administration are ignoring"?
It will be interesting to hear the Biden Admin. argument.
"You can't do that because immigration is in control of the feds" while doing absolutely nothing about 'sanctuaries' defying federal laws.
Well, someone has to do SOMETHING since Biden/Harris have failed so miserably.
Well, failed might be harsh, as it indicates some action being actually undertaken.
If Texas is barred from deporting illegal immigrants back to their home countries, then the only option is to send them to the cities and neighborhoods of the elected reps who fight to keep them in the US.
"Not in my backyard" needs to end when it comes to dealing with and paying for illegal immigrants. If illegal immigrants are a boon to the economy then they should be welcomed with open arms in gated communities, sanctuary cities and even Martha's Vineyards.
Remember Gov Abbot has been sending them to Democrat run shitholes, sorry "sanctuary cities" like NYC, Chicago, LA, and D.C.
Just keep busing them to NY and Chicago and they will self deport.