The governor of Texas, Republican Greg Abbott, signed a package of anti-immigrant laws this Monday, including SB4, considered one of the strictest in American history and that gives police the power to detain and deport migrants without due process.
With construction work on the wall on the border between Mexico and Brownsville (Texas) in the background, Abbott signed a package of three laws approved in the extraordinary sessions of the Legislature in response to what he considers the president's “open borders” policy. of the United States, Joe Biden.
Considered one of the strictest anti-immigrant laws in American history, SB4 makes it a misdemeanor for a foreign national to “enter or attempt to enter the state from a foreign nation” irregularly.
The offense becomes a serious crime, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, if the offender is a repeat offender.
The law allows state justice to order the expulsion of people without judicial process. And the most controversial, Police officers may arrest any individual they suspect of entering the country illegally.and they will have the discretion to expel him to Mexico.
“The goal of this law is to stop the wave of illegal entry of foreigners into Texas,” The governor said when signing the law, highlighting that during the Biden Administration, which began in January 2021, more than eight million migrants have crossed the border.
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Given the concerns of activists who argue that The law encourages racial profiling towards immigrants who reside in the state, Among other negative results, Abbot warned that the application of this law “will focus on the border.”
The measure joins others that Abbott has implemented as part of his Operation Lone Star against irregular immigration, to which 9.5 billion dollars have been allocated since 2021 and which has included the installation of a barbed wire fence and a buoy barrier on the Río Grande border (Río Bravo in Mexico).
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Abbott also signed two other bills, including SB3, which allocates an additional $1.54 billion for border wall construction. and funding security operations in the region, including funding to police departments to implement SB4.
Another law signed by the governor creates a minimum sentence of 10 years for people found guilty of migrant smuggling.
Likewise, Abbott attacked the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, warning that the border is two-way and that his government had been able to “stop all this.” Furthermore, he described López Obrador's policy of exposing migrants to torture, rape and death as “reprehensible.”
Despite the exorbitant cost of its immigration policy, The measures have allowed Abbott, who has been governor since 2015, to consolidate his power in the state by overriding Democratic objections, promoting his anti-immigrant agenda at the national level and challenging President Biden's administration, whom he blames for illegal immigration due to his supposed “open borders” policy.
Abbott faces the prospect of new laws, especially SB4, being challenged by the federal government or pro-immigrant groups, among them the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), which have already announced their intention to go to court.
The new provisions may also generate rejection from a sector of the approximately 12 million Hispanics in Texas, who constitute the largest demographic group in the state with 40.2% of the around 30 million inhabitants.
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Organizations announce lawsuits
After the laws were signed, dozens of Texas organizations strongly criticized the governor of Texas and They warned him that they would meet in court “very soon.”
A group of activists led by La Unión del Pueblo Entero (LUPE) and Frontera
Texas Organizing Project reminded the governor that they are in a “state of alert and resistance” to the implementation of this measure.
More than forty people protested shouting “Yes we can” at the site, starting a campaign launched last week and to which more than 50 community organizations have joined. They promise demonstrations in the coming months.
“There is no limit to the terror that Governor Abbott inflicts on Texans,” said Tania A. Chávez Camacho, director of LUPE, at the protest. She added that the Republican and his allies have allowed Texas to become a “safe place” for a small group of xenophobic and anti-immigrant people, and at the same time in a hostile place for the majority of Texans.
Chávez warned that they will continue marching, testifying and organizing against these policies “in the streets and in the courts.”
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In that sense, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas confirmed that “intends” to file a lawsuit against SB4 this week. Sarah Cruz, policy and advocacy strategist for border and immigrant rights at the ACLU of Texas, said this law is one of the “most radical and anti-immigrant bills in the country” that will undoubtedly lead to more rights violations “and instill fear in black communities, brown and indigenous and in all people of color throughout the state.” The lawyer warned that SB4 violates international and federal law and interferes with the asylum process.
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