Texas Senate committee OKs bill letting state arrest illegal border crossings
AUSTIN, Texas - Illegal crossings at the Texas-Mexico border continue to be a big problem for state law enforcement officers mobilized by Governor Greg Abbott under Operation Lone Star.
At a Texas Senate Committee meeting on border security in Austin on Tuesday, members voted 3 to 2 in favor of passing Senate Bill 2.
"The bill authorizes state law enforcement to arrest and prosecute aliens who illegally cross the border anywhere other than a port of entry," said State Senator Brian Birdwell, the author of SB 2.
Punishment would range from a Class A misdemeanor up to a second-degree felony based on the suspect's criminal history.
Texas DPS director Colonel Steve McCraw, who testified as a resource witness, explained how the bill would be enforced.
"Probable cause would be established by seeing someone cross illegally," said McCraw. "Being able to see and act upon it."
State Senator Chuy Hinojosa, a Democrat who voted against the passage of the bill to the full Senate, is concerned the state could be overstepping federal immigration law.
[HINOJOSA: "You say it doesn't violate immigration law?"]
"That's correct because we're not enforcing immigration law. We're enforcing trespassing into the State of Texas," responded Birdwell.
David Coale a constitutional attorney who has been following the progress of the bill says Birdwell's argument is interesting, but added that, if ultimately passed and signed into law, he believes it will face legal challenges.
"The crime of illegal entry into the United States, by definition, is about being in one particular place: the United States. And constitutionally, that sort of border issue is committed exclusively in the federal government," Coale said.
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It is a point Senators Hinojosa and Birdwell debated before a vote.
"My take is this is an attempt to set up a challenge to the authority of border states to be able to enforce unlawful entry if you will," said Hinjosa.
"Good probability the state could find itself in this circumstance, but we don't enforce immigration law because it gives no authority to deport or do anything to Border Patrol or ICE's functions," said Birdwell.
The next step is for the full senate to take up the bill.
If passed, the details would have to be reconciled in the House, which has already adjourned for this special session.
Because this is a priority for Governor Abbott, we'll have to wait and see if it is brought back in another special session.