(ProsperNews.net) – Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed legislation giving law enforcement officers in the Lone Star State the authority to arrest illegal migrants. Abbott signed the legislation during a ceremony in Brownsville, where he was joined by National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) President Brandon Judd and several other senior border patrol officials.
The legislation is the first of its kind in the US and makes entry into Texas without authorization a criminal offense. Enforcing illegal entry laws is usually under the sole authority of the federal government and its agencies. According to media reports, the newly signed legislation will impose a 20-year prison term for illegal re-entry and allow officials to expel migrants back to the nation from which they entered the US.
The latest attempt at immigration control in Texas accompanies earlier legislative efforts to create offenses for people smuggling that carry a 10-year jail sentence, as well as a 5-year term for operating a stash house. Republicans stated that the laws were a response to President Biden’s inaction at the southern border and the administration’s failure to enforce federal law.
The White House denounced the Texas legislation as “incredibly extreme,” and Democrats in Washington called it unconstitutional. At a media briefing before Christmas, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the law “will not, and does not, make the communities in Texas safer.” She would not respond to questions on whether the federal government would take legal action but said it was up to the Department of Justice to decide.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Texas Civil Rights Project said the legislation is unconstitutional because it places state law above federal law. The two groups have filed a lawsuit against Texas, saying, “Immigration is a quintessentially federal authority.”
The legislation is due to take effect in March 2024, but the ACLU said it would use “every tool at our disposal, including litigation, to stop this egregious law from going into effect.”
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