Greg Abbott signs legislation authorizing police to detain immigrants and making it a state felony to enter Texas unlawfully
On Monday, December 18, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a measure declaring it a statutory criminal to enter the state unlawfully. SB 4 is the act that permits local law enforcement to make arrests of migrants. They have the authority to order the migrants to be returned to Mexico. The legislation is anticipated to go into force in March.
The Texas Latino community is uneasy about the measure. According to reports, 40% of the state’s population resides in the neighborhood. The Texas legislature was criticized by several civil rights organizations and immigrant advocacy groups.
Abbott told NBC News that Biden’s willful inactivity has left Texas to fend for itself. “Stop the tidal wave of illegal entry into Texas,” he said, was the aim of the law.
21 Texas Democrats and Congressional Hispanic Caucus members signed a letter on Monday requesting that the Justice Department intervene and halt the legislation. The measure was dubbed “the most extreme anti-immigrant state bill” by them.
The president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, said that the state risks the “safety and dignity of asylum seekers” after Abbott’s signing of the measure. According to CNN, Vignarajah issued a statement in which she stated, “Texas is turning its back on the values of compassion and due process that make our nation the world’s beacon of humanitarian leadership by criminalizing the very act of seeking refuge.”
Abbott had already given the go-ahead to build a 1,000-foot floating barrier close to Eagle Pass, Texas. In order to prevent migrants from entering the state from Mexico after crossing the Rio Grande, he had also insisted on the installation of razor wire close to the river. Both attempts, however, were turned down in court. Abbott’s administration has been transporting thousands of migrants from Texas to other locations such as Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver, and Los Angeles via bus since 2022.
