Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Monday signed into law one of the toughest immigration measures in the US, allowing the state to arrest illegal immigrants crossing the southern border.
Senate Bill 4 (SB4) will make it a felony to illegally enter Texas from a foreign country from March 2024. The new measure will allow state law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants, with repeat offenders facing up to 20 years in prison.
“The goal of Senate Bill 4 is to stop the tidal wave of illegal entry into Texas,” Abbott said at a press conference. “The bill provides a mechanism to order an illegal immigrant to return to the foreign country from which they entered.”
Abbott cited the wave of illegal immigration that has plagued the US-Mexico border in recent years, with Texas suffering the brunt of the influx.
“Two years ago, a record number of illegal immigrants were apprehended – more than 2.3 million. That’s more than the size of Houston, Texas,” Abbott said. “Then last year, more than 2.4 million people were apprehended crossing the border illegally.”
“In total, since Joe Biden has been president, if you count those apprehended and the known absconders, it adds up to about 8 million people crossing the border illegally.”
Abbott also approved a measure to add $1.54 billion in state aid to build more border walls and barriers and increase border security operations and law enforcement presence. The governor said Texas has already completed more than 16 miles (25.7 kilometres) of border wall and currently has more than 33 miles (53 kilometres) under construction. The state has also installed more than 110 miles (177 kilometres) of barbed wire fencing along the border with Mexico.
In addition, Abbott signed a new law cracking down on human smuggling and illegal immigrant hideouts. The measure creates a mandatory 10-year minimum prison sentence for smuggling illegal immigrants across the border and a five-year minimum sentence for operating a stash house.
“Texas (is) doing its part to step up and try to secure a border that Joe Biden left wide open,” Abbott said. “Biden’s deliberate inaction has left Texas to fend for itself.”
