Governor Greg Abbott signed the strictest anti-migrant law in the United States in the last 20 years. This Law, SB4 will go into effect next March, includes three regulations. It is more drastic than Law SB1070 approved by the Arizona government in 2010.
The first of the three laws of SB4 criminalizes migrants who cross the nearly 2,000 kilometers of Texas border with Mexico, explained Dr. José María Ramos, research professor at El Colegio de la Frontera Norte (ColeF).
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According to this rule approved by the Texas State Congress, irregular arrival into Texas territory is a crime and allows state authorities to deport to Mexico anyone suspected of having entered Texas in this way.
If migrants do not leave US territory, they may face a prison sentence of between two and 20 years, he said.
Governor Abbott’s second initiative allows the use of an extraordinary 1.5 billion dollars to strengthen surveillance of the border with Mexico. Part of the resources are to build more kilometers of immigration wall.
The third initiative of the SB4 Law, which will go into effect in February 2024, toughens penalties for human traffickers.
When analyzing this Law SB4, the specialist in governance, security and Mexico-United States relations, commented that upon signing it on December 18 in Browsville, Texas, Governor Abbott assured that in 2017 317 people were arrested accused of this traffic crime. of migrants.
This year more than 3 thousand human traffickers were arrested. And the rule that the Texan president signed increases prison sentences to 10 years and creates another penalty of 5 years in prison for anyone who operates or helps the operation of a safe house in the State of Texas.
Researcher Ramos García pointed out that in the State of Texas, which has just over 29 million inhabitants, ten million are of Mexican origin. “The majority do not vote, because they do not usually register to vote. And those who vote favor Republican candidates.”
He explained that Governor Abbott’s narrative is based on a deliberate lack of action by the federal government, which is why the State of Texas has to defend itself.
SB4 can be repealed
Nearly 60 percent of the total migrant arrests: 6 million 830 thousand 287 carried out by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), occurred in the Texas border region with Mexico from January 2021 to October 2023, as announced in recent November.
He then commented that the argument for the temporary suspension of operations at the international rail bridges in Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas by Customs and Border Protection, was due to an increase in migrant border crossings.
Last November alone, border authorities detained 192,000 immigrants, up 2 percent from 188,000 immigrant detentions in October.
And likewise, he said, a pedestrian crossing into the United States was closed at the border port of San Ysidro, in California, to redirect immigration personnel to attend to asylum requests.
“This growing human mobility occurs, among other factors, due to the various immigration options for irregular migrants offered by the United States government as of January 5, 2023,” he pointed out.
In addition, he commented that the Republican governor of Texas enacted these laws two days after former President Donald Trump promised the greatest deportation of immigrants if he returns to the White House in 2025.
In New Hampshire, the former president assured “that migrants poison the blood of the United States.”
The specialist in the Mexico-United States bilateral relationship also considered that Law SB4 could be repealed by the Supreme Court in the short term. Among the reasons: It supersedes federal legislation, promotes racial profiling and harassment.
Additionally, it unconstitutionally authorizes local authorities to deport people without due process, regardless of whether the immigrants are seeking asylum or other humanitarian protections.
“The Texas law is contextualized under the negotiation of the White House and the Senate to reach an agreement on border security, which would imply greater control on the border line by the federal government.”
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“In exchange for this, Republicans in Congress would endorse aid for Ukraine, Israel and other national security needs!” said research professor José María Ramos García.