12/18/2023 11:18 p.m
The governor of Texas, Republican Greg Abbott, passed this Monday (18) a law that criminalizes migrants who enter this border state with Mexico illegally and allows their detention a clear challenge to the Democratic President Joe Biden.
The law, which takes effect in March, “makes it a felony for unlawful entry into Texas from a foreign country” and imposes up to 20 years in prison for repeat offenses, the governor said during the signing ceremony.
Local authorities will have the power to detain migrants who do not have the necessary entry documents and judges can expel them.
The legislation also imposes “a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison for migrant smuggling,” Abbott added.
Last week, Mexico described the law as a “measure of a political nature.”
In the United States, “the application of immigration laws, border controls and the negotiation of international agreements are the exclusive prerogatives of the federal government,” emphasized the Mexican Foreign Ministry.
The law will most likely trigger a lengthy legal battle with the federal government, which generally sets and enforces immigration laws, as well as with human and civil rights organizations.
“These harmful policies will certainly negatively impact Latino communities across the state, leading to family separation and law enforcement problems,” the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (Naleo) Education Fund said in a statement.
The migration crisis has raised strong tensions between Republicans and Democrats, who are currently engaged in difficult negotiations in Congress, where conservatives have linked approval of an aid package for Ukraine to tightening policies to curb migration.
The political dispute is intensifying as the November presidential election approaches.
Former Republican President Donald Trump, Biden's likely opponent in the next election, said this weekend that migrants are “polluting the blood” of the United States.
“Temporary closure”
Both Abbott and Trump support building a wall along the border with Mexico and mass deportation of migrants, including many Latin Americans fleeing violence and poverty.
Democrats are also seeking to expedite the return of migrants who avoid the “legal pathways” they have established to enter the United States.
These “legal routes” force migrants to make appointments or carry out procedures in the countries they transit through a mobile phone application, for example by taking advantage of humanitarian and family reunification permits.
Despite these measures, according to official figures, American authorities intercepted irregular migrants at the border with Mexico 240,988 times in October alone. So far this year there have been more than two million.
That influx led United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to announce over the weekend the temporary closure of two border rail crossings in Texas starting this Monday to provide agents for the “safe processing” of migrants.
The Border Patrol says it has recently observed a “resurgence in human trafficking organizations transporting migrants from Mexico on freight trains.”
A temporary closure affecting trade between the two neighbors in the runup to Christmas.
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