By Kimberly James; WBAP and KLIF News, Dallas, Texas.
AUSTIN – (WBAP/KLIF) – Governor Greg Abbott heads to Brownsville today to sign two immigration bills into law. SB 3 provides $1.5 billion for more border security; SB 4 allows any Texas peace officer to arrest someone suspected as having entered the country illegally.
Nationwide, from June through October, field agents are reported to have had more than one million encounters with migrants who crossed the Texas/Mexico border illegally.
SB3 sets aside the money for border security measures, including new border barriers, and to help pay Texas cities to enforce SB4. SB4 creates criminal charges for illegal crossings through the Mexico/Texas border, undocumented, at any time, anywhere in Texas. It allows all police officers, sheriff’s deputies, and state troopers to arrest anyone suspected of being in the United States illegally.
Immigration advocates say SB4 legalizes racial profiling. Ramior Luna, executive director of Somos Tejas, says Texas minority communities are being attacked. Immigration attorneys warn anyone in Texas who is in the midst of immigration proceedings to carry paperwork at all times attesting to this.
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