The Texas House of Representatives approved three bills to strengthen border security, but also to pround up and deport undocumented immigrants.
Although there was opposition from Democrats, HB 4 advanced with Republican supportto empower police officers to apprehend, arrest and/or expel immigrants who cross the border irregularly.
That plan now faces debate in the Senate, where its approval is expected, due to Republican control.
Last week in the state House, Rep. Armando Lucio Walle, a Democrat from Houston, confronted Republican Cody Harris, a representative from Palestine County, who proposed a motion to block motions on the bill.
“It hurts us to the core,” Walle is heard saying in a video posted on social media that went viral. “And you don’t understand, you don’t live in our skin. And that’s what bothers me.”
HB 4, sponsored by Rep. David Spiller, a Republican from Jacksboro, would create a new state crime for illegally entering Texas from Mexico, allowing state troopers to deport those people.
Detained immigrants could face up to 180 days in prison, but if they are repeat offenders, that sentence could go up to five years.
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) establishes the power for federal agents in deportation proceedings, so it is possible that there will be some attempt to stop the rule being pushed by Texas in court.
There are also concerns that the new law will lead to persecution of people who are “suspected” of being undocumentedonly for not having on hand evidence of citizenship or legal stay in the United States.
In addition, the expulsion of immigrants from Texas could cause a new problem with Mexico, since it must agree to receive these people and the Mexican states bordering the United States cannot make federal agreements with other countries.
In addition to that controversial law, Republicans moved forward with a plan that will allow Governor Greg Abbott to allocate up to $1.5 billion for his Operation Lone Star, which includes placing barbed wire on the border and spiked buoys in the Rio Grande. .
Greg Abbott prepares to enact SB 4
The state Legislature is moving forward with bills HB 4 and HB 6, but SB 4 is ready to be signed into law, which could happen by Governor Greg Abbott.
SB 4 would expand criminal “human trafficking” laws in Texas, which could lead to punishments of up to 10 years in prison, but the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) indicates that such a law would affect workers of civil organizations.
“State criminal laws that threaten immigrants with prison sentences violate our nation’s fundamental values and laws. “We should welcome, not criminalize, families and people fleeing persecution,” charged David Donatti, an attorney with the ACLU of Texas.
Laws against immigrant rights
Defenders of civil organizations have spoken out against HB 4, HB 6 and SBB 4.
“HB 4, in particular, undermines and short-circuits the asylum process, harming vulnerable and needy people. It eliminates due process, including fundamental rights that prohibit detention without arrest or trial. It will destroy the communities of Texas,” said Robert Heyman, strategic advisor to the Immigrant Defense Center of the Americas, in El Paso, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico and New Mexico.
He added that state reforms are based on the idea that deterrence and confinement of our immigrants are solutions.
“We must unite as a community against these anti-immigrant bills,” he defended. “These bills promote discrimination, undermine our civil and constitutional rights, and go against our welcoming values.”
Heyman warned that these types of laws will provoke more xenophobic actions in the state.
Keep reading:
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