Governor Greg Abbott is expected to sign into law Senate Bill 4 that makes illegal border crossings a state crime. It would give local and state police the authority to arrest someone suspected of illegally entering the country.
KERA’s Stella Chavez reports immigrant advocates are worried—and they’re taking steps to prepare.
Abbott’s Border Power Play
SB4 is expected to take effect on September 1, 2024. And it’s expected to be immediately challenged as being a violation of the U.S. Constitution – and if the past can be used to predict the future it will be tossed out by the U.S. Supreme Court. However, these days anything goes with this Supreme Court.
But Texas Observer senior staff writer and editor Gus Bova says if the high court sides with Abbott and upends federal power on the border, the implications would be far reaching.
“If the current SB4 were allowed to stand in a maximalist way, if the Supreme Court were to crack up immigration law to all the states, we could effectively cease to be a country,” said Bova.
But what many people fear about SB4 is how it could directly disrupt the lives of people who are in Texas without authorization. But Bova says it’s not clear if the law will be ruthlessly enforced.
“It’s possible the law could be enforced in sort of a “minimal way” where it’s pretty much only enforced at the border when a police officer sees someone cross and the reentry part, the second part, maybe that really won’t be enforced. But the text of the bill itself, despite all the attempts from Democrats, it doesn’t include any limitations on where it can be enforced. There are some limits on when it can be enforced because crimes always have a statute of limitations but nothing else. The letter of the law could be applied to just about anywhere at anytime.”
Bova writes that what Abbott is doing is challenging established federal authority over immigration law and reframing which authority is supreme at the border— the state or the federal government.
Bova’s latest article is Texas is Challenging 150 Years of Immigration Law.
Coastal Bend Bird Watchers
South Texas is a great place for bird watchers. The Coastal Bend is a unique area where tropical meets sub-tropical and two major flyways converge. Four rare bird species have been spotted in the Corpus Christi area recently. KEDT’s Cathy Edwards has that story.
