It will no longer be business at Texas’s southern border because of a new immigration enforcement law.
Governor Greg Abbott, ever committed to stemming the inpouring of illegal immigrants, has signed a bill into law that will punish illegal entry with jail time. But rights groups are gearing up to hinder the survival of the controversial piece of legislation.
In November, the Texas senate passed S.B. 3 and S.B. 4, two bills that aim to toughen illegal immigration restrictions in the state. The S.B. 3 will release $1.5 billion towards the fight against illegal entry. Specifically, it will fund the erection of additional wire fencing across the border with Mexico.
The Texas government had already placed miles of razor-wire fencing at the border and a floating barrier of buoys across the Rio Grande. But it needed more funds to cover the whole length of the border.
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The S.B. 3 will also allocate funds to pay thousands of additional Texas state troopers employed by the government. These additional personnel will beef up surveillance across the border and arrest illegal entrants.
But it’s the S.B. 4 that has drawn more of the anger from immigrant rights groups. The bill Gov. Abbott signed on December 18 will authorize troopers, cops, and sheriff’s deputies to arrest persons who cross into the state illegally.
The law prescribes up to 6 months jail term for illegal entrants under a Class B misdemeanor charge. Repeat offenders could get 2 to 20 years in prison under a second-degree felony charge. The law also empowers judges to order the deportation of illegal immigrants.
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The law will become the strictest state immigration enforcement law in the country. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has called the law the “strongest border security bill Texas has ever passed.”
The piece of legislation has generated outrage from rights advocacy groups for several major reasons. There is a fear that this law will lead to racial profiling. Also, these groups believe that crime victims would be reluctant to seek help from the police out of fear of deportation.
Already, lawsuits have emerged, contesting the constitutionality of the law. The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas, and the Texas Civil Rights Project have sued Governor Abbott.
In a suit they instituted on December 19, the union argued that the law violates the federal government’s authority. They argued that Congress has empowered only the federal government to enforce immigration laws.
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The suit also contended that the S.B. 4 would hinder migrants from requesting asylum in the United States. The suit also stated that migrants have the right to request asylum even if they came into the country legally.
The rights groups are praying the court to discard the new law. According to Anand Balakrishnan, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, the law is not only unconstitutional but is “prone to error, and will disproportionately harm Black and Brown people regardless of their immigration status.”
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