On Monday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law new legislation aimed at strengthening border security along the state’s border with Mexico.
The legislation includes three new laws that will help Texas crackdown on human smuggling, deter illegal immigration, and protect the lives and property of Texans by increasing funding to the construction of a border wall.
“Four years ago, the United States had the fewest illegal border crossings in decades,” said Abbott. “It was because of four policies put in place by the Trump Administration that led to such a low number of illegal crossings. President Biden has eliminated all of those policies and done nothing to halt illegal immigration. President Biden’s deliberate inaction has left Texas to fend for itself. Today, I will sign three laws to better protect Texas—and America—from President Biden’s border neglect. These laws will help stop the tidal wave of illegal entry into Texas, add additional funding to build more border wall, and crackdown on human smuggling.”
“As Lieutenant Governor, securing the southern border has been one of my biggest priorities since first being elected in 2006,” said Texas Lieutenant Governor Patrick. “Since I took office as Lieutenant Governor, Texas has increased border security funding more than any time in history. It has never been more clear that Texas must step into the breach created by the border security liars and deniers Biden, Harris, and Mayorkas, and the signing of these three bills is indicative of the Texas Senate and my commitment to stemming the flow of illegal immigration and a strong southern border.”
According to a press release from Abbott’s office, “Senate Bill 4 from Special Session #3 (Flores/Guillen) creates a mandatory ten-year minimum prison sentence for smuggling of persons and continuous smuggling of persons. Passed with bipartisan support, the law enhances the criminal penalties for the operation of a stash house and creates a mandatory five-year minimum prison sentence. It also further enhances criminal penalties for victim-related offenses that occurred during the commission of smuggling, such as assault and burglary.”
“Senate Bill 3 from Special Session #4 (Huffman/Jetton) appropriates $1.54 billion in general revenue to the Trusteed Programs within the Office of the Governor for border security operations and the construction, operation, and maintenance of border barrier infrastructure,” the press release continued.
“Senate Bill 4 from Special Session #4 (Perry/Spiller) creates a criminal offense for illegal entry into this state from a foreign nation,” the press release added. “The law cracks down on repeated attempts to enter Texas by creating the offense of illegal reentry and penalizes offenders with up to 20 years in prison. It also provides the mechanism to order an offender to return to the foreign nation from which the person entered or attempted to enter this state. The law provides civil immunity and indemnification for local and state government officials, employees, and contractors for lawsuits resulting from the enforcement of these provisions.”
