What’s Happening:
Under Joe Biden’s administration the negative effects of illegal migrants flowing into the country has stressed the financial capabilities of cities and states across the nation. Biden’s administrators and political allies continue to say that the border is secure and that the president’s policies to deter illegal entries are working.
Citizens and public officials along the southern border and in large cities where migrants have overrun public services have challenged these “nothing is wrong here” claims. They want action and need help with the illegal migration crisis.
One border state is stepping up and taking action in a way that fits its motto: “Don’t Mess With Texas.” Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is set to sign a new state bill to allow Texas law enforcement officers to arrest and depart certain illegal migrants.
From The Daily Wire:
The bill, Senate Bill 4, would authorize all police in Texas to arrest migrants suspected of crossing the border illegally. The bill makes entering the country illegally a new state misdemeanor punishable by up to two years.
A judge could then order the migrants to be deported. The Texas House approved the bill on Tuesday and the governor is set to sign it into law. This would become one of the nation’s strictest immigration laws.
State officials did place limitations in the bill. The law would affect only recent migrants and not residents who have lived in the U.S. for more than two years. Arresting officers would need evidence that a migrant had entered the country illegally.
That needed evidence, according to Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, would be “almost impossible” to enforce in the more northern parts of Texas. Texas is the second largest state and the southern border at Brownsville is more than 500 miles (nine hours by car) away from the northern border with Oklahoma.
Democrats immediately challenged the bill and the Republicans who support it with their customary screams of, “racist.”
Large cities such as New York City and Chicago, which are thousands of miles from the southern border, are scrambling to handle the flood of migrants in the last year.
More than 130,000 migrants have arrived in New York City, and they are being housed on taxpayers’ dollars. Mayor Eric Adams stated earlier this year that the migrant crisis could cost New York City $12 billion over three years. The influx has caused homeless shelters to overflow and forced the city to open new facilities, often to the complaints of nearby residents.
Chicago, the country’s third-largest city, is scrambling to build large, winterized camps for tens of thousands of migrants before the cold winter arrives for the next few months. The city has already spent at least $250 million on the issue.
U.S. House Republicans recently cited numbers from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and Yale University that estimate there are between 16.8 million and 29 million illegal migrants living in the country. Estimates from the data show about 3.8 million of those migrants have arrived under the Biden administration.
Key Takeaways:
- A new Texas bill opens the door for all police to arrest illegal migrants.
- The governor is set sign to sign it and allow judges to order deportations.
- This state bill is would become one of the toughest immigration laws.
Source: The Daily Wire