A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the Texas House announced they have an answer to the border security issues plaguing Texas’ southern border and it doesn’t involve a surge or the National Guard.
House members from both sides of the political aisle stood shoulder to shoulder as they highlighted three border security bills. One of these, by Angleton Republican Rep. Dennis Bonnen, would create a regional multi-agency crime center and more checkpoints for southbound travel headed into Mexico. “And what we are doing today is we are stopping the ‘fits and stops,’ we’re stopping the ‘surge and stop, surge and stop.’ We’re creating a long-term plan that Texans can count on,” Bonnen reiterated.
Bonnen’s bill would also create a Reserve Unit consisting of retired Department of Public Safety officers that could be used as added personnel, instead of the 1,000 National Guard troops costing the state $12 million a month.
A bill promoted by El Paso Democratic Rep. Oscar Longoria meanwhile, would create a special border prosecution unit. “The unit will help screen cases, secure indictments and bring accused criminals to trial,” said Longoria. “It will also provide technical and legal assistance to investigative personnel to help prosecutors and law enforcement to coordinate more effectively for cases that stretch across multiple jurisdictions,” he added.
The third bill, filed by Houston Democrat Senfronia Thompson, creates harsher penalties for those caught trafficking young teenage girls for sex.
The Senate’s version of a border security plan would cost $850 million. It calls for more DPS troopers and keeping the Texas National Guard in the Rio Grande Valley until the end of the summer. The House’s plan has not been assigned a final price tag by the head of the House’s budget committee.
