Governor Greg Abbott (R., Texas) signed a bill into law on Monday making it a state crime to enter Texas illegally and empowering state and local police to arrest and deport illegal immigrants, in what the bill’s critics claim is unconstitutional.
Senate Bill 4 gives state and local government the authority to arrest illegal immigrants who enter Texas from Mexico between officially designated 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 legislation also authorizes state judges to deport illegal aliens to Mexico if they see fit, rather than pursue prosecution under federal law. Last month, both the state senate and house passed the bill, which will take effect in March now that it’s been enacted.
Critics argue that the bill runs afoul of a 2012 Supreme Court ruling, Arizona v. U.S., which forbids states from implementing their own immigration laws. Arizona’s “show me your papers” law was criticized for overstepping federal authority before it was overturned. Creating immigration policy and laws are left entirely to the federal government under the Court’s decision, but Texas Republicans say that the ongoing border crisis necessitates state action.
“Biden’s deliberate inaction has left Texas to fend for itself,” Abbott said in Brownsville, Texas, where he signed the bill.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, however, opposes any state effort to crack down on a rising influx of illegal immigrants into the U.S.
“S.B. 4, one of the most radical and anti-immigrant bills in the country, will undoubtedly lead to more rights violations and instill fear in Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities and all people of color throughout the state,” said Sarah Cruz, border and immigrants-rights strategist at the ACLU of Texas. “The bill violates international and federal law and interferes with the asylum process, potentially causing further trauma and distress to people seeking asylum, including families and children. Texans deserve to have their real needs met, not more cruelty that will further harm our communities.”
The ACLU and similar organizations are urging the Justice Department to intervene and calling on the Biden administration to sue Texas over the latest measure and the state’s illegal-immigration initiative, Operation Lone Star.
The move is expected to escalate tensions between Abbott and the Biden administration, both of which have fought each other legally over the border crisis in recent months. The Texas government has been claiming that the federal government isn’t doing enough to curtail illegal immigration, while the White House and Justice Department have been actively challenging the state’s sanctioned buoy barriers and razor wire along the Rio Grande.
Nearly 189,000 illegal migrants crossed the southern border in October, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection report released last month. That figure decreased 14 percent from September.