Many Texas Democrats are not interested in securing the southern border. Proof of that was seen in a letter that three public officials sent to President Biden asking him to stop a new Texas law, Senate Bill 4.
In the Texas Legislature’s fourth special session, Senate Bill 4 was passed. It allows local and state government the authority to arrest illegal immigrants who cross the border between legal ports of entry. The law states that illegal border crossers can be charged with a state misdemeanor and face up to one year in jail. If additional crimes are involved, or the person does not comply with the judge’s orders, a felony charge can be leveled against that person. The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. SB 4 authorizes state judges to deport illegal aliens to Mexico rather than pursue prosecution under federal law.
The new law is meant to ease the burdens of the Biden border crisis on Texas and to help with the overwhelmed court system. The backlogs in immigration courts will take years to get back on track.
Governor Abbott supports the bill and posted on X (formerly Twitter) that he looks forward to signing it into law.
I look forward to signing Senate Bill 4, which creates penalties for illegal entry into Texas & authorizes the removal of illegal immigrants apprehended at the border.
Congrats to Sen. @electcharles & Rep. @DavidSpillerTX on this historic progress for border security.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) November 15, 2023
Harris County (Houston) Judge Lina Hidalgo joined with Travis County (Austin) Judge Andy Brown and El Paso County Judge Ricardo A. Samaniego to send a letter to President Joe Biden to stop SB 4 before it becomes law. They claim the law is unconstitutional and is “in direction violation of the federal government’s jurisdiction over immigration law.” They are most concerned about the deportation aspect of the law.
“In practice, SB 4 will allow-and sometimes require-judges across the entire state of Texas to deport people, even if they are in the process of seeking asylum,” the county judges wrote. “Police officers, whose effectiveness depends on close ties with their local communities, will now be in charge of detaining immigrants for deportation.”
The bill passed easily in the Legislature. The Texas House is majority Republican and the bill passed there along party lines, 83-61. The Texas Senate passed the bill with a 17-11 vote.
Remember, the job of County Judge in Texas is that of a CEO. The judge is not a judge in the judicial system. The judge is the county CEO. The person is often not an attorney but someone elected to run the county. Most Houstonians realize what a disaster Hidalgo has been to the county. She was elected as a diversity candidate – the youngest person elected to the office. She is also the first woman and the first Latina to be elected to this office. She is mired in a corruption investigation and recently came back to work after an extended leave to seek mental health treatment. She is an immigrant from Colombia. She was five years old when her family left Colombia, moving to Peru, then to Mexico City before relocating to Houston when she was 15. She’s a Democrat dream of a candidate with all the boxes she checks – young, woman, Latina, and immigrant. Qualifications and merit don’t matter, apparently.
Texas lawmakers claim that the severity of the border crisis justifies their action. Democrats say that the law goes against a Supreme Court ruling from a decade ago. In Arizona v. U.S., states are forbidden from implementing their own immigration laws. Immigration is a federal responsibility.
The Texas Democrats don’t want the state bill to harm the relationship between the United States and Mexico.
In their letter, county officials said the legislation will harm the country’s relationship with Mexico and is “as unprecedented as Texas trying to declare its own wars.” Mexican government officials declared in a letter obtained by The Texas Tribune that they “reject” the law altogether.
“In response to this legislation, the Mexican government reaffirmed that Mexico will continue to work with the U.S. federal government on immigration matters. However, Mexico clarified that it “categorically rejects” SB 4 over concerns about due process and the ramifications of enforcing patchwork immigration policy implemented by individual states take advantage of their vulnerability.”
Mexico has boldly rejected SB 4. Mexico has no say over Texas law but the chaos created by the Biden border crisis emboldens the country officials to weigh in. Ironically, if Mexico would cooperate with U.S. officials, illegal border crossings would be reduced.
The numbers of illegal aliens in the United States is at an historic high. Joe Biden ended the successful policies and agreements put in place by the previous administration on his first day in office. The border crisis is intentional. It is a humanitarian crisis, as well as a national security crisis. Among those illegally crossing the southern border are those people known as ‘gotaways.’ They are not vetted at all by Border Patrol and DHS. They avoid law enforcement and run away instead of turning themselves in to Border Patrol as most asylum-seekers do. If current immigration laws are upheld, though, most of the asylum-seekers will have their requests rejected. About 99 percent of those seeking asylum do so because they want to live in the United States for job opportunity and a better life. That is not a legal reason for asylum.
With the increase in threats of domestic terror attacks from lone wolves or sleeper cells already in the United States, it is noteworthy that stories of gotaways being apprehended are showing up in the news. ICE proudly announced it deported a Mexican fugitive wanted for murder in his home country. They did so after the man illegally crossed the border seven times. He would be sent back and he would simply return. Seven times.
In the news Tuesday was a story about a Brazilian illegal alien who was arrested by ICE because he is a convicted child rapist. He was arrested in Martha’s Vineyard. The man was sentenced to 14 years in prison in Brazil but he fled.
ICE said the Brazilian, identified as 37-year-old Saulo Cardona Ferreira, had received “multiple criminal convictions” in Brazil in 2019 for raping the child and had been sentenced to 14 years in prison, but he had fled the country. The town of Sorriso, Mato Grosso, had issued a warrant for his arrest.
The agency said that at an unknown time and place, he entered the U.S. illegally, meaning he evaded Border Patrol as a “gotaway.”
He was apprehended by ICE’s Fugitive Operations Team in the Massachusetts vacation spot during a vehicle stop. A spokesperson said that after being alerted via a law enforcement data review to his potential presence in the area in September, ICE began an investigation and apprehended him near his address on Nov. 14.
He is now in custody awaiting a court appearance before an immigration judge.
“This undocumented Brazilian national represented a significant threat to the inhabitants of Martha’s Vineyard,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston Field Office Director Todd Lyons said in a statement.
I wondered if he was one who was flown to Martha’s Vineyard from Texas via Florida by Governor DeSantis but officials say there is no connection to that operation. The haters will have to blame DeSantis for something else. The convicted rapist of a five-year-old child sought refuge in the United States, in a community that crows about being a sanctuary haven for illegal aliens. Go figure.
How many more criminal gotaways are in the US and what are they up to? President Biden doesn’t care. At least 1.7 million gotaways during #Biden BorderCrisis https://t.co/v0XTJqsZZ6
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) November 21, 2023
Good question, Senator Cornyn.
Governor Abbott and the taxpayers in Texas have been left to fend for themselves. The Biden administration seeks to stop Abbott in everything he does to secure the state’s border with Mexico. The administration doesn’t want to secure the southern border and doesn’t want Texas to do it, either. Nothing will change until we get Joe Biden out of the White House and elect a conservative to replace him.
