(USNewsMag.com) – In an effort to control the crisis at the southern border, a new law will go into effect in Texas in March that allows police to arrest migrants who illegally enter the state and gives local judges the authority to order the migrants to be deported out of the country.
The law, signed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, expands upon the “arrest and jail” operation, which began two years ago and resulted in the arrest of almost 10,000 migrants. The law allowed border landowners to authorize the state to conduct trespassing arrests for migrants who enter the U.S. illegally through those properties.
Abbott said the new law would “help stop the tidal wave of illegal entry into Texas.”
The Texas Department of Public Safety said that more than 37,000 total criminal arrests have resulted from the state’s border operation. The operation has resulted in sex offenders, human traffickers, and gang members being prevented from entering the country, according to spokesperson Ericka Miller. The state “is working to send a message to those considering crossing into the country illegally,” Miller added.
The author of the new arrest law, Texas State Rep. David Spiller, said that without the trespassing arrest law, he thinks the number of border crossings would be higher. However, he added that even if defendants are convicted under the trespass arrest law, the offense is not deportable under federal law.
The Department of Justice has stated it plans to sue Texas over the new law, with senior Justice Department official Brian Boynton calling the law “unconstitutional.”
During fiscal year 2023, more than 3.6 million migrants crossed the southern border, with over 2.1 million migrants being apprehended at the border and released into the interior of the United States, according to statistics from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. An estimated 6 million migrants have crossed the southern border since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.
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