Houston area officials on Texas bill allowing police to arrest migrants crossing the border
HOUSTON - Two controversial border bills were approved by the Texas House of Representatives on Tuesday.
Senate Bill 3 (SB 3) would allocate roughly $1.5 billion toward new border wall construction. In addition, SB 3 would direct $40 million towards increased law enforcement in Colony Ridge. A low-income residential development in Liberty County, outside of Houston, is home to about 40,000 people. A location some consider to be a housing hot spot for undocumented immigrants.
Senate Bill 4 (SB 4) was also approved by Texas lawmakers on Tuesday and will soon head to Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s desk. SB 4 will make it a state misdemeanor to illegally cross from Mexico into Texas, empowering local police to arrest undocumented immigrants.
SUGGESTED: Texas House approves bill allowing police to arrest people who cross the border illegally
"We’re just now digging into the new senate bill to see what the actual regulations are, what the enforcement teeth are in it," said Major Ray Nolen from Galveston County Sheriff’s Office.
For the last several months, Galveston sheriff’s deputies have been helping law enforcement near the Texas border in Kinney County. Galveston deputies patrol in Kinney County on shifts to help other jurisdictions as part of Governor Abbott’s Operation Lone Star.
"We are apprehending a large number of migrants on a daily basis," said Nolen. "If they currently have not violated any laws of the state, we turn them over to customs immigration. This [new law] will in fact mean their mere presence in the state, they have broken a state law. That in turn, logistically creates concerns for us. Do we have enough capacity in our jails to hold them? The District Attorney’s Office will have to get involved and accept charges. It’s in its infancy stages and there’s a lot still to research about it and figure out how we’re going to navigate it."
Under SB 4, the misdemeanor charge of illegally crossing into Texas from Mexico leads to up to a year in jail. However, the charge can be enhanced to a felony if a migrant is accused of other crimes or doesn’t follow a judge’s order to return to Mexico. The felony penalty is between two and 20 years in prison.
"I don’t see the state really being able to do this," said Magali S. Candler, an immigration attorney in Houston.
Candler says SB 4 reminds her of Arizona v United States, a 2012 Supreme Court case ruling that local police can’t arrest someone based on their immigration status.
"If this is signed and if it eventually goes into effect, or if they try to have it go into effect, it’s going to be attacked in the courts," said Candler. "It will be litigated, and I do think eventually it will make it to the Supreme Court."
On Wednesday, Governor Abbott tweeted on X, "I look forward to signing Senate Bill 4 which creates penalties for illegal entry into Texas and authorizes the removal of illegal immigrants apprehended at the border."