(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, signed a groundbreaking law allowing state law enforcement to arrest and detain individuals crossing the southern border illegally.
In a Monday press statement, Abbott slammed President Joe Biden for halting Trump-era policies aimed at deterring illegal immigration, saying that the Texas government had no other choice but to sign the legislation into law.
“President Biden’s deliberate inaction has left Texas to fend for itself,” Abbott said. “Today, I will sign three laws to better protect Texas—and America—from President Biden’s border neglect. These laws will help stop the tidal wave of illegal entry into Texas, add additional funding to build more border wall, and crackdown on human smuggling.”
Today in Brownsville, I signed three new laws to better protect Texans AND Americans from Biden’s open border policies.
Illegal entry into Texas is now a crime subject to removal or imprisonment.
Texas will also fund new wall construction & increase human smuggling penalties. pic.twitter.com/EVGcYf4HJs
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) December 19, 2023
The law comes amid an unprecedented influx of illegal immigrants at the southern border and widespread criticism aimed at the Biden administration for its lack of action in dissuading illegal aliens from seeking entry to the U.S.
As reported by Fox News, the Department of Homeland Security admitted to Congress last week that it is releasing a staggering total of 5,000 individuals each day and that there were at least 670,000 known “gotaway” individuals in fiscal year 2023.
In fiscal year 2023, a whopping total of 2,045,838 immigrants were apprehended at the southern border. In 2021, 1,659,206 were also apprehended, the Daily Caller reported Monday.
BREAKING: Video from a contact on the ground in Eagle Pass, TX right now shows a mass of thousands of migrants waiting to be processed by Border Patrol after they crossed illegally today. I’ve spent hundreds of days there over the last 2+ years and I’ve never seen it like this. pic.twitter.com/JPNYY7sPxI
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) December 19, 2023
Brandon Judd, the president of the National Border Patrol Council, hailed the law as a necessary step to protect Texans.
“Border Patrol agents nationwide, not just in Texas, are grateful for Governor Abbott’s leadership and willingness to recognize that it is the rule of law that keeps all Americans safe,” Judd said. “As the flagrant disregard of our laws too often is the norm throughout our country, Texans can be proud that their governor will not back down to pervasive and radical woke ideology.”
The bill takes effect in March 2024 and is likely to be challenged by leftist activists, including the American Civil Liberties Union, who argue that the immigration policy is the purview of the federal government.
BREAKING: Gov. Abbott has signed into law some of the most extreme anti-immigrant legislation in the country.
We’ll challenge it in court.
— ACLU of Texas (@ACLUTx) December 18, 2023
The Texas chapter of the ACLU rebuked the law, describing it as “one of the most radical” immigration bills in the country.
“The bill violates international and federal law and interferes with the asylum process, potentially causing further trauma and distress to people seeking asylum, including families and children,” the ACLU claimed.
