(IntegrityTimes.com) – Illegal immigration from the US southern border hit a historic high in 2023 with more than 2.5 million encounters. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has been at the forefront of many of the skirmishes within the US political sphere as he has enacted measures to discourage illegal crossings, as well as with his transportation of migrants out of Texas to sanctuary cities in other states to relieve the burden on border towns.
In a bold move, Abbott signed the legislation, SB 4, on December 18, which will allow local law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants and charge them with a Class B misdemeanor. It would also allow state judges to order them removed from the country or face a $2000 fine and possible prison time. The Justice Department has declared the law unconstitutional as they say that border control falls under Federal law not state. The law is supposed to go into effect on March 5.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department said in a letter to Abbott that Texas has until January 3 to confirm that they will not be enforcing this new law or the United States government will take “appropriate legal remedies” to stop them. Abbott’s office has replied that he welcomes another chance to battle with the Biden administration in court. He took to social media to comment that he had never seen such hostility to the rule of law, adding that Biden is trying to destroy America while Texas is trying to save it.
The White House has also suggested that Governor Abbott’s new law could damage international relations with Mexico. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says he will challenge this law if it goes into effect. Mexico has also said they will not accept deported migrants and characterized the law as anti-immigration. Some Texan opponents of the law say the law would waste law enforcements time and resources as well as have unintended consequences that could result in racial profiling and harassment of Texas citizens.
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