Texas Legislature Passes 2 Bills Criminalizing Illegal Migrant Entry into State

The Texas Legislature passed two separate bills criminalizing the illegal entry of migrants into the state. The bill passed by the House also criminalizes the unlawful presence of a foreign national in Texas. Neither bill has passed both chambers.

The Texas House of Representatives passed House Bill 4 early Thursday morning by a vote of 84-60. The bill creates a criminal offense of “illegal entry into or illegal presence in this state by a person who is an alien.”

The bill, if passed by the Texas Senate and signed by Governor Greg Abbott would make the act of attempting to enter the state from a foreign country at a place other than a legal port of entry a Class B misdemeanor. The offense would be punishable by up to six months in jail. A subsequent offense would be classified as a State Jail Felony.

The bill provides a law enforcement officer with an alternative to arrest. The officer may transport the migrant to a port of entry and order the migrant to “return to the foreign nation.” Failure to comply with the officer’s order would constitute a separate offense. This offense is classified as a 2nd Degree Felony.

House Bill 4 will be passed on to the Texas Senate for consideration.

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Earlier this month, the Texas Senate passed SB11, which also makes illegal entry into Texas a Class A misdemeanor. The bill passed the Senate with a vote of 19-12 but was left pending in the House State Affairs committee.

The Senate bill does not contain a provision for removal of the migrant as described in the House bill.

Opponents of both bills claim they are unconstitutional as the federal government has jurisdiction over immigration law, the Texas Tribune reported.

Governor Abbott made immigration and border security legislation a priority for the third special session.

On Wednesday night, the House passed a bill providing more than $1 billion for building additional border barriers. A second bill passed on Wednesday which would increase the penalty for human smugglers.

During the recently ended FY23, more than two million migrants were apprehended after crossing the southwest border between ports of entry, Breitbart Texas reported. More than 1.2 million of these migrants crossed into the five Texas-based Border Patrol sectors.