Published December 18, 2023
Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill making Texas the first state in the union to give law enforcement officers the authority to arrest migrants who illegally enter the state. The measure, SB 4, was signed into law on Monday during a ceremony at the base of the border wall in Brownsville, Texas.
The bill is part of a package of measures designed to decrease the flow of migrants entering the state from Mexico. The Texas Legislature passed the bills during two special sessions this fall.
Governor Abbott was joined at the bill signing ceremony by Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) President Brandon Judd, Adjutant General of Texas Major General Thomas Suelzer, Texas Border Czar Mike Banks, Senator Pete Flores, Senator Joan Huffman, Senator Charles Perry, Representative Ryan Guillen, Representative Jacey Jetton, Representative David Spiller, Representative Mano DeAyala, Representative Stan Kitzman, Representative Janie Lopez, and other border officials. House Speaker Dade Phelan was not present for the historic event.
Senate Bill 4 from Special Session #4 makes illegal entry into Texas from a foreign country a criminal offense. The law is the latest attempt by the state to crack down on migrants illegally entering the state between ports of entry. By creating the offense of illegal reentry, offenders can be penalized with sentences of up to 20 years in prison. It also provides the mechanism to order an offender to return to the foreign nation from which they entered or attempted to enter this state. The law provides civil immunity and indemnification for local and state government officials, employees, and contractors for lawsuits resulting from enforcing these provisions.
The law is similar to a current federal statute under Title 8 of the United States Code 1325, which makes illegal entry into the United States a misdemeanor offense for a first-time offender and a felony for a second offense. Under the current administration, the federal statute is not pursued to any significant degree.
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SOURCE: www.breitbart.com
RELATED: JUST IN: Governor Abbott Gives Texas Police Power to Arrest Illegal Aliens Amid Biden Border Invasion
Published December 18, 2023
Governor Greg Abbott (R) on Monday signed a bill that gives Texas police power to arrest illegal aliens amid Biden’s border invasion.
“Biden’s deliberate inaction has left Texas to fend for itself,” Abbott said, adding the new bill is designed to “stop the tidal wave of illegal entry into Texas.”
“At the Texas-Mexico border today for a bill signing ceremony that will take #OperationLoneStar to the next level,” Abbott said on X.
Excerpt from NBC News:
Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday signed legislation that makes it a criminal offense to enter Texas illegally, setting up a potential clash with President Joe Biden’s administration over immigration policy and border enforcement.
In recent years, local authorities have been arresting migrants on a state misdemeanor of criminal trespassing under Abbott’s border enforcement program known as Operation Lone Star.
The law signed Monday makes it a misdemeanor to enter or attempt to enter Texas from a foreign county at any location other than a lawful port of entry.
The law is the Texas governor’s latest attempt to deter migrant crossings through state actions. Abbott previously ordered the installation of a 1,000-foot floating barrier near Eagle Pass, Texas, and for the placement of razor wire near the Rio Grande to stop migrants from entering the state after crossing the river from Mexico.
Last week a video showing tens of thousands of illegal aliens trying to catch a train in Mexico en route to the United States was posted to X.
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SOURCE: www.thegatewaypundit.com
RELATED: Texas Gov. Abbott empowers police to arrest illegal border crossers, as thousands more pour in
Published December 18, 2023
Texas governor Greg Abbott signed a new law Monday which gives law enforcement officers in the state the power to arrest anyone suspected of entering the country illegally.
The measure comes as photos showed thousands of migrants in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody at Eagle Pass in the state, after illegally making their way into the country Sunday night and Monday morning.
Texas also halted two train crossings from Mexico at El Paso and Eagle Pass as of 8 a.m. Monday, on routes where thousands of migrants have been hitching rides through northern Mexico to the border.
Under Abbott’s new law, known as SB4, illegally entering the country into Texas will become a state crime. People arrested under the law will be able to choose whether to follow a judge’s orders to leave the country or be prosecuted and face either jail or a fine up to $2,000. Repeat offenders will then by charged with a felony.
At the signing in Brownsville, Gov. Abbott said: “[Law enforcement officers] are seeing with their own eyes people who are violating the law and now they’re going to have the ability to arrest them, prosecute them, make them subject to jail, make them subject to being sent back and make them subject to even greater penalties if they dare to come into Texas a second time.”
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SOURCE: www.nypost.com
