Texas Gov. Greg Abbott put himself on a collision course with Joe Biden on Monday as he enacted sweeping powers to address the refugee crisis.
The laws will allow police to arrest illegal migrants and allow judges to send them back across the Mexican border. The Republican governor said he could reduce the number of border crossings by up to three-quarters – but the Biden administration will inevitably attack the country's constitutional legitimacy.
2,000 migrants cross the border every day, with Texas bearing the brunt of the crisis. Biden has failed to address the worsening humanitarian disaster at the border and has faced criticism even from Democratic ranks.
Opponents call Abbott's measure the most dramatic attempt by a state to control immigration since a 2010 Arizona law – denounced by critics as the “Show Me Your Papers” bill – was largely struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The law will likely soon face a legal challenge from the White House, which has rejected the governor's previous attempts to stem the flow of migrants.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed three bills at a border wall construction site in Brownsville, Texas
More than 1,000 migrants wait in line to be processed by U.S. Border Patrol agents after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Monday
Migrants wait to climb over concertina wire after crossing the Rio Grande and entering the United States from Mexico, seen in September in Eagle Pass, Texas
The law, known as SB4, takes effect in March and allows any Texas law enforcement officer to arrest people suspected of entering the country illegally. Anyone who re-enters the country faces penalties ranging from 180 days to 20 years in prison.
Abbott, who signed the bill in front of a section of border fence in Brownsville, Texas, predicted the number of people entering Texas illegally would fall by “well over 50 percent, maybe 75 percent.” He did not provide any evidence for such an estimate.
Once in custody, illegal migrants could either agree to a Texas judge's order to leave the U.S. or be prosecuted for misdemeanor charges of illegal entry.
Migrants who do not leave the country could be rearrested for more serious crimes.
Abbott accused the White House of “doing nothing to stop illegal immigration.”
“Joe Biden’s willful inaction has decimated America,” Abbott said.
“The consequences of [the new law] are so extreme that the people being trafficked by the cartels don’t want to come to the state of Texas,” he said.
Abbott claimed that 8 million people have crossed the border illegally since Democrat Biden took office in January 2021.
Abbott defended the new law as constitutional and said Texas was “left to its own devices.” Typically, immigration policy and its enforcement were the responsibility of the federal government. But several southern governors have taken matters into their own hands, saying Biden dropped the ball.
Abbott said the bill, passed by the Republican majority of the Texas state legislature last month, was necessary to “stop the tidal wave of illegal entry into Texas.”
Abbott said the bill makes it a felony for a foreign nation to enter Texas illegally.
“For repeat offenders, this creates the offense of illegal re-entry with a possible prison sentence of up to 20 years,” he said.
The bill “also provides a mechanism to order an illegal immigrant to return to the foreign country from which he or she entered,” he said.
The number of migrants crossing the Del Rio sector remains around 2,000 per day, with the majority being Venezuelans, Hondurans and Colombians.
A surge of up to 12,000 immigrants per day crossing the U.S. southern border has overwhelmed U.S. immigration authorities in recent weeks
In this aerial photo, immigrants, many wearing Mylar blankets provided by the U.S. Border Patrol, try to stay warm after spending the night outside a processing center at the U.S.-Mexico border on Monday
The legislation adds another point of tension on the issue of immigration as White House and Senate negotiators struggle to reach an agreement on border security.
Republicans in Congress are demanding changes to the immigration system in return for any aid to Ukraine, Israel and other national security needs.
Texas Republicans are increasingly questioning the U.S. government's authority on immigration issues, saying President Joe Biden's administration is not doing enough to control the 1,950-mile southern border.
The state has experimented with a range of measures as part of its Operation Lone Star to deter people crossing the border illegally, including deploying National Guard troops to the border, blocking migrants with deadly pull wire and installing a floating barrier over a section of the Rio Grande.
Texas has bused more than 65,000 migrants to cities across America since August 2022 and recently installed barbed wire along the banks of the Rio Grande, which has trapped and injured some asylum seekers.
A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled earlier this month that Texas must remove the floating barrier, even though Texas is seeking a full court review.
In the state's most high-profile action, it has bused 65,000 migrants to Democratic-controlled cities across America since August 2022, aiming to ease the burden on its border towns and put pressure on Democrats.
Nevertheless, migrants continued to cross the border.
Abbott signed a law with sweeping new powers that allows police to arrest migrants who cross the border illegally and gives local judges the power to order them to leave the country
Local organizations in Brownsville held a rally ahead of a news conference announcing the governor's signing of three bills to expand border security policies in the state
A migrant who crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico into the United States makes his way through and over concertina wire and boxcar barriers in Eagle Pass, Texas
On Monday, the U.S. government temporarily closed two railroad border crossings in Texas, a move that rail operators said would hamper trade before Christmas.
Troy Miller, acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said the closures in Eagle Pass and El Paso were in response to increasing numbers of migrants traveling on freight trains, particularly in the last week.
Miller said authorities are seeing “unprecedented” arrivals at the border, topping 10,000 on some days this month.
Shortly after Abbott signed the new law, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas said it would challenge the measure in court.
More than 20 Democrats in Congress also signed a letter calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to file a lawsuit to stop the law, known as Senate Bill 4.
“SB 4 is dangerous for the people of Texas and compromises the federal government’s exclusive authority over immigration and foreign policy,” the letter said.
In this aerial photo, Texas National Guard troops direct a group of more than 1,000 immigrants to a U.S. Border Patrol processing center after the migrants crossed the Rio Grande
A number of immigrants who crossed from Mexico can be seen at Eagle Pass
The Mexican government also rejected the measure. Under bilateral and international agreements, Mexico is obliged to accept deportations of its own citizens, but not deportations of citizens of other countries.
Under the Texas law, migrants asked to leave would be sent to ports of entry along the border with Mexico, even if they are not Mexican citizens.
In September and October, Venezuelans were the largest nationality arrested crossing the U.S. border illegally.
During debate in the Texas House of Representatives in November, Republican Rep. David Spiller dismissed concerns that the bill could be used as a dragnet to detain immigrants across the state.
He said enforcement would take place mainly in border districts. But he also rejected several attempts by Democrats to narrow the law, including a proposed defunding of police on college campuses.
Because the illegal entry charge is a misdemeanor that has a two-year statute of limitations, Spiller said the law will not be used against immigrants who have long settled in the United States
“This is not about rounding up everyone who is here illegally and sending them back to Mexico,” he said during debate on the bill.
Opponents have accused Texas Republicans of using the law as a way to force the Supreme Court's new conservative majority to reconsider its landmark 2012 Arizona decision.
At the time, Justice Anthony Kennedy said that while Arizona was “understandably frustrated” with immigrants who are in the country illegally, it could not pursue policies that “undermine federal law.”