From the Texas Tribune: Gov. Greg Abbott signs bill making illegal immigration a state crime

There are three

From the Texas Legislature Online - SB3 88(4): Relating to an appropriation to provide funding for the construction, operation, and maintenance of border barrier infrastructure and border security operations, including funding for additional overtime expenses and costs due to certain increased law enforcement presence. 

From the Texas Legislature Online - SB4 88(4): Relating to prohibitions on the illegal entry into or illegal presence in this state by a person who is an alien, the enforcement of those prohibitions and certain related orders, including immunity from liability and indemnification for enforcement actions, and authorizing or requiring under certain circumstances the removal of persons who violate those prohibitions; creating criminal offenses.

From the Texas Legislature Online - SB4 88(3): Relating to the punishment for certain criminal conduct involving the smuggling of persons or the operation of a stash house; increasing criminal penalties.

The second bill has raised constitutional questions regarding federalism. Has Texas intruded upon an area of public policy that the U.S. Constitution has delegated to the national government? 

- Click here for the article.

“The proposed Texas legislation, which would allow a state court magistrate judge to issue a removal order, is not lawful. Immigration is plainly a federal function,” the statement says. “State legislators cannot enact immigration laws for the same reasons that the United States Congress cannot enact Texas state legislation. State magistrate judges cannot conduct immigration proceedings for the same reason that federal Immigration Judges cannot adjudicate Texas state criminal cases.”

Under the new law, migrants who decline to return immediately to Mexico would serve their sentence, then be transported by police to a port of entry — and they could face a felony charge for refusing to return to Mexico at that point.

The new law faces a potential roadblock if the Mexican government refuses to accept certain migrants when they’re deported. Professors and a former Mexican immigration official have said Mexico is under no obligation to accept non-Mexican immigrants deported by Texas.

When asked what Texas would do if Mexico does not accept migrants deported by the state, Abbott said at the news conference: “We’re going to send them right back to Mexico.”

The new law prohibits police from arresting migrants in public or private schools; churches and other places of worship; health care facilities; and facilities that provide forensic medical examinations to sexual assault survivors. The bill doesn’t prohibit arrests on college or university campuses.

In response, various groups have filed suit challenging the constitutionality of SB4 88(4).

- Groups sue over new Texas law that lets police arrest migrants who enter the US illegally.

- Civil rights groups file federal lawsuit against new Texas immigration law SB 4.

- Civil Rights Organizations Sue to Block Texas from Enacting Extremist Immigration Law.