Texas governor signs law making illegal immigration a crime

• The new legislation is due to come into effect in March next year.
  
• The legislation sparks a potential clash with the Biden administration.
• It is unclear whether the DOJ will sue Texas over the new law.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday signed tough legislation making it a felony to enter the state illegally across the southern border, sparking a potential clash with President Joe Biden’s administration over immigration policy and border enforcement.

The law allows US state authorities to arrest illegal immigrants crossing the southern border, NBC News mentionted.

Abbott, a Republican who has implemented other policies aimed at immigrants who have gone to court, signed the bill at an event in Brownsville, Texas.

“Biden’s deliberate inaction has left Texas to fend for itself,” Abbott said, adding that the bill’s goal was to “stop the tidal wave of illegal entry into Texas.”

Meanwhile, crossing into the United States between designated ports of entry is already a crime under federal law.

Abbott’s signature follows the Republican-controlled Legislature’s approval of the measure and Washington’s negotiations for an immigration deal in exchange for additional aid to Ukraine and Israel, a high priority for the White House .

Texas authorities have arrested immigrants on state misdemeanor charges of criminal trespassing as part of Operation Lone Star, a border enforcement program.

However, the new law makes it a misdemeanor to enter Texas from a foreign county at any location other than a legal port of entry, which will take effect in March.

It is unclear whether the Department of Justice (DOJ) will sue Texas over the new law after a letter signed by a group of 21 Texas Democrats and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus asked the Department of Justice to step in and block the new legislation.

The group described the law as “the most extreme anti-immigrant bill.”

The law is the Texas governor’s latest attempt to prevent immigration crossings through state action.

Abbott previously ordered the installation of a 1,000-foot floating dam near Eagle Pass, Texas, and the installation of a razor wire near the Rio Grande to prevent migrants from entering the state after crossing the river from Mexico.

Both efforts were rejected in court, with a federal appeals court ruling this month that the state must remove the buoy barrier, and a federal court rejecting Abbott’s request last month to block federal authorities from removing the razor wire.

Abbott’s office has also moved thousands of immigrants from Texas to cities including Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver and Los Angeles since last year.