Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a new law Monday that gives law enforcement officials in the state the power to arrest anyone suspected of entering the country illegally.
The move comes as pictures show thousands of migrants in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody at Eagle Pass in the state, after illegally entering the country on Sunday night and Monday morning.
Texas also halted two train crossings from Mexico in El Paso and Eagle Pass as of 8 a.m. Monday, on routes where thousands of migrants have hitched a ride through northern Mexico to the border.
Under Abbott’s new law, known as SB4, entering the country illegally into Texas would be a state crime. People arrested under the law will be able to choose whether to follow a judge’s order to leave the country or be prosecuted and face either jail time or a fine of up to $2,000. Repeat offenders will then be charged with a crime.
At the signing in Brownsville, Governor Abbott said: “[Law enforcement officers] are seeing with their own eyes people breaking the law and now they will have the ability to arrest them, prosecute them, subject them to prison, subject them to deportation and subject them to greater punishment if they dare to come to Texas for the second time.”
One of a group of immigrants waiting to be processed outside the Eagle Pass crossing in Texas on Monday Getty Images A group of more than 1,000 immigrants were arrested by border agents for processing outside Eagle Pass, Texas Getty Images
The SB4 measure is expected to take effect in March, but is expected to face legal challenges before then, as immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility.
On Monday morning, photos taken by NewsNation showed more than 2,000 immigrants gathered in a neat line at Eagle Pass waiting to be processed through the border.
They are just a few of the tens of thousands who have arrived at the border this month, which has seen about 30,000 more migrant encounters than the same period last month.
As of December 17, CBP had recorded 167,000 immigrant encounters, compared to 130,000 during the first 17 days of November, according to figures obtained by NewsNation.
It’s unclear if the thousands on the Eagle Pass line are related to the rail closure, which was temporarily suspended as of 8 a.m. Monday.
Governor Greg Abbott signed the state’s new border security law in Brownsville, Texas, on December 18. Facebook/Texas Governor Migrants line up outside the Eagle Pass crossing in Texas on Sunday. Rail access was halted there on Monday. Getty Images
Railroads became a popular method for immigrants hoping to cover large areas faster and more easily than on foot. Many have also boarded moving trains near the border to try to smuggle themselves into the states.
A few days ago, shocking footage emerged showing hundreds of migrants lined up on the train tracks outside Eagle Pass waiting for a chance to jump aboard.
The problem has been so widespread that Mexico’s leading railroad, Ferromax, suspended operations on several lines in September.
“After observing the recent resurgence of smuggling organizations moving migrants through Mexico via freight train, CBP is taking additional actions to increase staffing and address this developmentally, including in cooperation with Mexican authorities,” CBP said in a statement.
Migrants outside Eagle Pass. This month’s meeting on the southern border is expected to surpass last month’s. Getty Images An aerial view of migrants walking into Eagle Pass, Texas, on the morning of December 18. Getty Images
The closure is also being done to consolidate staffing resources and spread support across the southern border where migrants are trying to cross the border, CBP added.
Earlier in December, CBP closed four major road entry points across the southern border from California, through Arizona, and into Texas again at Eagle Pass, for the same reason.
Despite the closure, many migrants continue to arrive every day.
Exactly how the closure affects border areas remains to be seen. Residents living in the Mexican coastal town of Rocky Point told The Post last week they had seen their economy dry up less than two weeks after the border closure in Lukeville, Arizona, took effect on Dec. 4.
Migrants hold hands as they cross the Rio Grande to reach US soil on December 18. Getty Images
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has faced criticism from Americans living in Rocky Point, who have complained the closure of Lukeville has left them stranded in Mexico at the height of the holiday season.
“We would like to have just one agent at the border at the Lukeville border,” Rocky Point real estate broker Robin Miller told The Post. He and others say Hobbs and American authorities have provided little meaningful help to Americans living in Rocky Point.
Hobbs, who previously said he asked President Biden to use the National Guard to open the Lukeville crossing, ordered personnel from the National Guard to help CBP agents manage the border in his state.
But without approval from Washington, Hobbs previously said he could not use the National Guard to open the Lukeville Port of Entry, according to The Arizona Republic.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
