Texas poised to pass law allowing local police to arrest migrants

Axios
Sareen Habeshian
October 26, 2023

The Texas House on Thursday passed a bill that will allow local police to arrest migrants who illegally cross the border.

The big picture: The legislation – which expands on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's $4 billion border security push dubbed Operation Lone Star – challenges the federal government's authority on immigration.

• The state government has so far bused more than 50,000 migrants from the border to major U.S. cities across the country, as Abbott continues to blame President Biden's border policies for the influx of migrants.

Driving the news: House Bill 4 would make it a criminal offense to enter Texas illegally from another country and would authorize all licensed peace officers to remove immigrants who do so.

Zoom out: Lawmakers in the state's House of Representatives debated on border motions through Wednesday night and into Thursday morning.

• Democrats in the House said the measure would be a new criminal enforcement regime that targets the Hispanic community.
• "My community is being attacked," state Rep. Armando Walle, a Latino Democrat, said to his Republican colleagues, per a video shared on social media. "It hurts us personally. Y'all don't understand."

Of note: The House also approved $1.5 billion in funding to construct the state's own border wall.

• "Biden abandoned his constitutional duty to secure the border, so Texas stepped up to respond," Abbott said in a social media post about the measure.

Where it stands: The bill will now be voted on in the state Senate, which had previously approved its own version of the measure. It will then go to Abbott for his signature.