The Texas Legislature is in a special session and at the top of the agenda is border security and illegal immigration. On Tuesday, it passed immigration bills that included making it a state crime to cross the border illegally into Texas. It also approved $1.5B for additional border barriers.
Texas taxpayers are paying billions of dollars to fund its border barriers because Joe Biden will not secure the southern border. Senate Bill 3 allocates $1.54B for border barriers and to pay for state troopers to patrol Colony Ridge. Colony Ridge is a development where many illegal aliens can live, often purchasing homes in the development. It is north of Houston and the state legislature wants an investigation into the development and its developer, a person who has donated to Governor Abbott. It all looks pretty sketchy but maybe there are good reasons for what is going on there. The crime rate is high there, though, as drug cartels and human traffickers are alleged to have taken charge of some areas. Liberal publications like to mock those expressing concern about Colony Ridge because they seem to see nothing wrong with it, or the open border that enables a community like it to grow.
SB4 makes it a state misdemeanor to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border into Texas. It empowers Texas peace officers to arrest illegal immigrants and requires a state judge to order the person to leave the United States to avoid prosecution.
Under SB 4, the charge could be enhanced to a felony if the migrant is accused of other crimes or refuses to comply with a judge’s order to return to Mexico. The bill also allows immigrants to present any evidence that they are in the country legally during the prosecution. The maximum penalty for a misdemeanor charge is a year in jail; for a felony, the penalty is two to 20 years in prison.
Democrats introduced dozens of amendments to the bill, including language that would exclude immigrant children from prosecution, along with victims of trafficking and sexual assault. Other amendments said that if Mexico doesn’t accept a person from a particular country, the immigrant could use that as a defense from prosecution.
None of the amendments were adopted.
This is the 4th special session. Surprisingly, it took so long for border security and illegal immigration to get this far. Immigration is a federal issue, though, so I fully expect if this goes through, Biden’s DOJ will quickly sue the state to stop whatever it is doing. That is what happens every time Texas tries to secure its border with Mexico and ease the constant flood of illegal immigrants coming into the state. Biden will not help and he also will not allow Texas to go it alone. It’s an impeachable offense that he does not secure our borders and keep the homeland safe, in my opinion. It is a top duty in his job description.
If SB4 passes, you can be sure that Democrats will push disinformation on it at election time to trash the Republicans. Rep. David Spiller, a Republican, said during the debate in the House on SB4 that it targets recent illegal aliens, not those who have been here more than two years. There is a two-year statue of limitations for misdemeanors. So, no, your Abuela doesn’t have to go back to Mexico if she’s been here for years. “When the representation to the general public is, the Texas House is about to pass something that’s going to round up someone’s grandmother that’s been here all their life, that is completely false,” Spiller said.
We’ll see how far the Legislature gets this time. Without federal help, it is up to Texas to do what it can to take care of its residents and secure the border with Mexico.
I look forward to signing Senate Bill 4, which creates penalties for illegal entry into Texas & authorizes the removal of illegal immigrants apprehended at the border.
Congrats to Sen. @electcharles & Rep. @DavidSpillerTX on this historic progress for border security.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) November 15, 2023
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