Its critics have called it the harshest anti-immigrant law in the United States in the last 20 years. As of this Monday, it is a reality in Texas, the second most populated state and made up of 40% Hispanics. Governor Greg Abbott signed this afternoon in Brownsville and promulgated three regulations that toughen the treatment of immigrants and allow local authorities to ask for papers anywhere in the state. If they do not have them, the person may be detained and may be deported to Mexico. Whether or not a national of this country. The law, known as SB4, will go into effect in March of next year.
“The deliberate inaction of the Joe Biden Administration has left Texas to defend itself. The authors of our Constitution foresaw a situation where the federal government left the states unattended if they faced challenges on their borders,” Abbott said in front of the border wall between Mexico and the United States. The governor affirms that the current state of the border represents “a risk to the national security” of the United States. He cited, as an example, that last year 24,000 Chinese citizens tried to enter here illegally.
According to Abbott, SB4 will help stop “the wave” of irregular immigrants who have arrived in Texas. This law, approved in November by the Republican majority in the local Congress, is part of a package of initiatives aimed at cutting off the flow that has left record numbers at the border this year. The law makes illegal crossings a crime that can be punished by state authorities. This allows local police and judges to give the green light to deportations, something that US legislation only contemplates for federal authorities. “For repeat immigrants it creates an offense that can punish a new illegal entry with a potential prison sentence of up to 20 years,” the governor added.
The president has indicated that the law creates a mechanism that allows immigrants to be deported to the country from where they made the irregular crossing. Abbott did not mention Mexico in his speech, but it is this country with which the state shares thousands of kilometers of common border. The Mexican Government has rejected this law. The Mexican Foreign Ministry released a message in November warning that the criminalization of immigrants “will result in the separation of families, discrimination and racial profiling.” Mexico also repudiates the fact that the measure allows state authorities to detain and return nationals or foreigners to Mexican territory, indicates the statement dated in November. Texas has 10 million inhabitants of Mexican origin.
Human rights organizations have threatened to sue the Texas government to stop the law. “Senate Bill 4 supersedes federal legislation, promotes racial profiling and harassment, and unconstitutionally authorizes local authorities to deport people without due process, regardless of whether immigrants are seeking asylum or other humanitarian protections,” Oni said. Blair, the director of the ACLU of Texas.
Abbott enacted the laws two days after Donald Trump promised at a rally the greatest deportation of immigrants if he returns to the White House in 2025. The former president also assured in New Hampshire that undocumented immigrants “poison the blood of the United States.” Last month, the governor accompanied Trump on a visit to the border. “We need him to return to the presidency of the United States,” said the governor. He has supported the Republican candidate on his way to the White House in 2024 because he will be able to “return law and order to the border.” Trump, on the other hand, applauded the methods that Abbott has used in his state to stop the flow of immigration. Among these tactics are sending buses of immigrants to Democratic cities or installing buoys and barbed wire in the Rio Grande.
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To be approved, SB4 caused days of tension in the local House of Representatives. The final yes came on a Thursday at the end of October at four in the morning. The Republican majority prevailed over attempts by Democratic politicians to derail Congressman David Spiller's proposal, which allows anyone to be detained on suspicion of having entered Texas illegally.
The governor has also signed a law to inject $1.5 billion into local authorities to strengthen border surveillance. The governor will continue the construction of the immigration wall and will install other barriers that can cut off the flow of arriving people. His measures have been considered inhumane and have caused deaths in a year where immigrant deaths have increased. His initiatives have also sparked several lawsuits in court. Earlier this month, a federal judge ordered Texas to move buoys that Abbott had installed in the Rio Grande. This floating wall that has also caused diplomatic disputes with Mexico.
The third law toughens penalties for human traffickers. Abbott said that in 2017 some 317 people were arrested accused of human trafficking. This year more than 3,000 have been made, an increase of more than 2,000%. The norm that he signed increases the penalties to 10 years for human trafficking and creates a five-year prison sentence for anyone who operates or helps the operation of a safe house in the State. These types of residences are used by cartels and gangs dedicated to crossing people across borders as distribution centers for migrants. They wait in these illegal houses for the families of those who undertook the trip to cover their debts. After this, they are released.
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