Texas Immigration Bill: Local Cops Empowered to Detain Migrants
In a step, towards strengthening border security the Texas state House of Representatives approved three bills on Thursday. However the spotlight was mainly, on one legislation called House Bill 4. This Texas immigration bill is set to grant local police the authority to arrest and subsequently deport illegal migrants.
The other two bills are also significant. One of them provides an amount of, over $1 billion for building border barriers while the other aims to increase the severity of sentences given for human trafficking crimes.
The process these bills went through in the state House was far from straightforward. They sparked debates that lasted for hours stretching from Wednesday into Thursday.
State Representative Cody Harris, from Palestine took an action by proposing to put a stop to any amendments. This move effectively ended the debate, paving the way for the Texas immigration bill to pass with a vote tally of 84-60.
State Representative Armando Lucio Walle, from Houston openly shared his emotions after the conclusion of the discussion speaking directly to Harris saying, “It deeply affects us on a level. You cannot fully understand our experiences. That’s what really upsets me.”
Federal Jurisdiction vs. Texas’ Approach
The essence of the Texas immigration bill is to reinvigorate Texas officers, enabling them to directly tackle illegal immigration. This stands in contrast, to rulings by federal courts, which gave sole jurisdiction over border matters to the federal government.
Now that the bill has been approved in the House it will move forward to the state Senate. Given the majority in the Senate it is expected that the bill will receive approval.
State Representative David Spille from Fort Worth praised the bill describing it as a efficient approach. He further explained that there is nothing about requiring someone to return to their country of origin if they arrived here unlawfully.
Recently released data by the Biden administration has revealed record breaking numbers at the border for September. This year has witnessed a number of encounters setting a new record for yearly encounters.
In a contrasting move despite acknowledging an ” immediate” need to bypass regulations for construction in South Texas the administration remains firm on its stance, against building border walls.
