Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a sweeping immigration enforcement bill into law yesterday, making illegal immigration a state crime and allowing local judges to issue deportation orders. Once Senate Bill 4 takes effect, Texas law enforcement will be authorized to stop, arrest, and jail migrants—a power that could lead to racial profiling and a costly expansion of policing.
S.B. 4 makes it a state crime, ranging from a misdemeanor to a felony, for an undocumented person to enter Texas outside an official port of entry. Law enforcement will be permitted to arrest people they think entered the state illegally, and not just in the border region. S.B. 4 will let Texas law enforcement "arrest undocumented immigrants anywhere in the state," reported The Texas Tribune. The law is set to take effect on March 5, 2024.
