The Texas Senate approved a bill to authorize local and state police, as well as state troopers, to detain immigrants who enter Texas territory illegally. Currently, state law enforcement agencies need federal permission to detain and imprison those who cross the border without proper permits. This proposal, which copies federal regulations, would enable them to do so.
State & local police would have unprecedented power to arrest illegal immigrants under a bill that took a critical step forward Tuesday.
The bill would make entering the United States illegally a criminal offense of up to 180 days in jail. https://t.co/SEPMj6Wv5N
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) October 12, 2023
An initiative to alleviate the extreme migrant crisis in Texas
The bill's sponsor, Texas Senate Border Security Committee Chairman Brian Birdwell, said the state needed to approve this measure due to the inactivity of the federal government, which has brought the border states to a state of crisis. A record of almost 3 million asylum seekers have entered the country illegally so far this year, not even including September. "The lack of fidelity and faithful execution of our laws by Washington has led us to this situation," Birdwell said.
Birdwell's initiative would allow Texas law enforcement to detain and imprison those suspected of having crossed the border without the necessary documentation for up to 180 days for a first offense.
The approval of this measure would allow the Texas Department of Security to detain up to 72,000 illegal immigrants a year, according to Director Steve McCraw in a hearing last Tuesday. This is a significant number, considering that law enforcement arrested about 35,000 people for all criminal offenses last year, per McCraw. The agency estimates that 1.5 million immigrants could cross illegally into The Lone Star State this year.
