Texas empowers local officers to arrest suspected illegal migrants

Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Monday inked into law SB 4, which arms the state's law enforcement with the authority to arrest individuals suspected of crossing the US-Mexico border without proper authorisation.

With this, the powers typically held by the federal government shift to local officers, a move that's sure to spark legal battles.

What is SB 4?

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Set to become effective in March 2024, SB 4, as per Reuters, establishes a new state offence for illegal entry or re-entry into Texas. It carries penalties ranging from a 180-day stint behind bars to a hefty 20-year prison term.

Texas magistrate judges are now mandated to instruct migrants to return to Mexico, and those refusing to comply face severe consequences, potentially landing them a two-decade sentence.

While existing federal laws already allow charges for illegal entry or re-entry, Governor Abbott said that President Joe Biden's "deliberate inaction has left Texas to fend for itself." He made the statementduring a press conference in Brownsville, Texas.

To underscore the state's commitment to bolstering border security, Governor Abbott also signed a bill that allocates $1.5 billion for border wall construction and associated operations. This adds to $5 Billion in state funds appropriated for border enforcement.

This comes on the heels of a late November law that Abbott signed which ratcheted up penalties for human smuggling.

Legal battles loom

Threatening to sue Texas over SB 4, Oni Blair, executive director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said the law "overrides federal immigration law" and "fuels racial profiling."

Previously, in 2012, the US Supreme Court struck down key parts of a similar Arizona law, includingone that allowed state officers to arrest people suspected of being in the US illegally.

Increase in migrants

Since Biden took over office in 2021, the number of migrants crossing the US-Mexico border has reached a record high. Abbott and his fellow Republicans blame Biden and his dismantling of the stringent policies implemented by former President Donald Trump for the increase in numbers.

To express their displeasure, Abbott, and other Republican leaders also bussed thousands of migrants to Democrat-controlled cities.

Texas also started Operation Lone Star, which employed a range of deterrents, including National Guard deployment, concertina wire barriers, and a controversial floating barrier over a segment of the Rio Grande.

However, a recent ruling by A three-judge panel of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals mandated that Texas must remove the floating barrier. The state is seeking a review.