Texas is one step closer to giving police the authority to arrest migrants and deport them from the US after State Republicans approved a new bill Thursday.
The proposal, known as House Bill 4, would give sweeping new powers to police to arrest and expel undocumented migrants, something previously under the sole jurisdiction of the federal government.
It would also grant all Texas police officers the power to detain migrants if they refuse to leave the US.
A similar bill has already passed the Texas Senate, meaning Republicans must now agree on a unifying version of the bills before sending it to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk, who is primed to approve it.
Republican state Rep. David Spiller, the author of the House bill, said the bill was necessary for the Lone Star State to handle the continuing influx of migrants crossing the border in recent years.
“Our cries for help in the enforcement of existing federal immigration laws have been ignored by President Biden. We have had enough,” he said.
El Paso has been hit especially hard, with officials in the border city saying it has reached “a breaking point” last month when more than 2,000 migrants were taken into custody every day.
Spiller touted his bill as a “humane, logical and efficient approach” to dealing with immigration in Texas.
“There is nothing unfair about ordering someone back from where they came if they arrived here illegally,” he said.
State Democrats, however, slammed the bill as an overreach of power that could risk the inadvertent arrests of US citizens and stir up further distrust between immigrant communities and the police.
“Y’all don’t understand the (expletive) you do hurts our community,” state Rep. Armando Walle said during heated debates over the bill on Wednesday and Thursday. “It hurts us personally.”
Ana Gonzales, of the Texas AFL-CIO labor organization, added that the bill could hurt Texas’ workforce and economy, as undocumented laborers could be forced into hiding to avoid arrest, KVUE reports.
“The Legislature is considering a measure that will hurt construction companies and workers,” Gonzales told the Texas House. “Workers deserve dignity and respect, regardless of their immigration status.”
The Texas bill is the latest attempt for the state to crack down on illegal border crossing after a year of other controversial tactics, including busing tens of thousands of migrants to Democrat-led cities, stepping up razor wire along the border and installing water barriers in the Rio Grande.
Should the bill pass and be signed off by Abbott, it will likely face challenges in court, with opponents claiming it is a clear violation of US law as deportation powers lie solely with the federal government.
Along with the bill to extend police power, the Texas House also voted to set aside more than $1 billion to construct barriers along the border, and to increase sentences for human trafficking to curb migrant smuggling.
With Post wires