According to CNN, Texas is going criminalize Illegal entry into the state, even though the Constitution recognizes no such offense.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to sign a bill that would make it a new state crime for entering Texas illegally and gives local law enforcement the power to arrest and order migrants to leave the United States, an extraordinary step in the hard-fought legal battle between the state and the federal government over its efforts to curtail illegal immigration.
The bill, SB4, which gives law enforcement the power to arrest migrants and grants judges the power to issue orders to remove violators to Mexico, has sent ripples of fear throughout the Latino community in Texas –- which makes up 40% of the state’s population.
It matters not to the Lords of Texas that there is to be no bar to interstate travel. There are things that you can get in hell of a lot of trouble if you transport them across state lines. Y’all are welcome to come to Massachusetts, but your AR-15 has to stay home. Your pot that might be legal in your state is still illegal in many states, so it’s best for you to leave your dope home if traveling to one of those states.
But, but, what about the border with Mexico? People can’t cross that legally without papers, unless they are applying for asylum, right? True, but that is not for the state of Texas to enforce. One is free to disagree with our national border policy, but it is the purview of the Federal government, something these self-proclaimed lovers of the Constitution surely know, but don’t care. Certainly, Texas authorities, if they apprehend someone who is in the country without papers can certainly turn that person over to ICE, but can’t legally prosecute them for having crossed the border.
But they know even this scotus is not going to uphold the law. They just want to create yet another confrontation with the Federal government. That’s what you do if you are a neo-confederate sedition supporter.