The governor of Texas signed the law that allows the expulsion of migrants to Mexico | Gives police the power to detain and deport migrants without due process

2023-12-19 02:04:43

The governor of Texas, Republican Greg Abbott, signed this Monday a package of anti-immigrant laws, including SB4, considered one of the strictest in American history and which gives the police the power to detain and deport migrants without due process. .

With construction work on the wall on the border between Mexico and Brownsville (Texas) in the background, Abbott signed a package of three laws approved in the extraordinary sessions of the Legislature in response to what he considers the president’s “open borders” policy. of the United States, Joe Biden.

Considered one of the strictest anti-immigrant laws in American history, SB4 makes it a misdemeanor for an alien to “enter or attempt to enter the state from a foreign nation” irregularly. The offense becomes a serious crime, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, if the offender is a repeat offender.

The law allows state justice to order the expulsion of people without judicial process. And most controversially, police officers will be able to arrest any individual they suspect of having entered the country illegally, and will have the discretion to expel them to Mexico.

“The goal of this law is to stop the wave of illegal entries of foreigners into Texas,” said the governor when signing the rule, and highlighted that during the Biden Administration, which began in January 2021, more than eight million have crossed the border. of migrants.

Given the concerns of activists who argue that the law encourages racial profiling of immigrants residing in the state, among other negative results, Abbot warned that the application of this law “will focus on the border.”

The measure joins others that Abbott has implemented as part of his Operation Lone Star against irregular immigration, to which $9.5 billion has been allocated since 2021 and which has included the placement of a barbed wire fence and a barrier of buoys on the border Río Grande (Río Bravo in Mexico).

Abbott also signed two other bills, including SB3, which allocates an additional $1.54 billion for border wall construction and funding security operations in the region, including funding for police departments to implement SB4.

Another law signed by the governor creates a minimum sentence of 10 years for people found guilty of migrant smuggling.

Likewise, Abbott attacked the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, warning that the border is two-way and that his government had been able to “stop all this.”

He described López Obrador’s policy as “reprehensible” by exposing migrants to torture, rape and death.

Despite the exorbitant cost of his immigration policy, the measures have allowed Abbott, who has been governor since 2015, to consolidate his power in the state by overriding Democratic objections, promoting his anti-immigrant agenda nationally and challenging the government. of President Biden, whom he blames for illegal immigration for his supposed “open borders” policy.

Abbott faces the prospect of new laws, especially SB4, being challenged by the federal government or pro-immigrant groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), who have already announced their intention to go to court.

The new provisions may also generate rejection from a sector of the approximately 12 million Hispanics in Texas, who constitute the largest demographic group in the state with 40.2% of the around 30 million inhabitants.