(ConservativeHub.com) – Last week, Texas state legislators approved a bill that would give the legal authorization to the state to arrest, imprison, and potentially even deport migrants who enter the country illegally.
The bill would make entering the U.S. through the southern border with Mexico illegally a state crime. Anyone who is suspected of having entered between legal ports of entry could end up being arrested by state and local police. A local judge would also be given the ability to order those people to be deported.
On Tuesday, November 14, the Texas House passed the bill which had originally been passed by the state’s Senate last week.
According to a recent report from The Wall Street Journal, state Rep. David Spiller (R) argued that Texas had the authority to secure and protect its borders.
However, the chair of the Texas Senate Committee on Border Security Republican state Sen. Brian Birdwell repeatedly opposed the bill despite his involvement in writing previous versions of it. According to WSJ, he argued during a previous floor vote that the legislators were creating a “terrible precedent” for disobeying and invalidating the Constitution. He added that the federal government is the only entity with permission to deport illegal immigrants.
The bill has also been opposed by more than two dozen former immigration judges who argued in an open letter that it was unconstitutional. In the letter, they note that legislators should think about what the long-term effects of the bill will be on the Constitution and federal law.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is expected to sign off on the law.
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