Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill into law designating drug cartels to be “Foreign Terrorist Organizations.” The new law will expand the state’s ability to fight the activities of Mexican drug cartels in connection to human smuggling, drug smuggling, money laundering, and other organized criminal activities.
Texas Department of Public Safety troopers arrested a Houston-area man after allegedly finding him with a carload of migrants illegally present in the United States. Officials say human smuggling organizations recruited the man with an advertisement on Craigslist.
The Texas Legislature is set to push the limits of the State’s authority to enforce immigration laws and increase border security. Two bills filed this session provide for the removal of migrants illegally entering the U.S. between ports of entry and call for stiff prison sentences for re-entering after removal.
AUSTIN, Texas — Governor Greg Abbott told Breitbart Texas that the state’s border security mission is saving lives across the nation by seizing fentanyl that slipped past Border Patrol and CBP. Operation Lone Star saved more lives by stopping nearly 25,000 criminal aliens from making their way into the U.S. interior, according to the state.
The Texas Legislature has passed SB 11, the Campus Carry Bill, and sent the bill on to Governor Greg Abbott for signature. The Senate passed the Conference Committee report on Saturday by a vote of 20-11. The bill cleared the final hurdle with passage in the Texas House by a vote of 98-47. The text of the final version of the bill is attached below.
The Texas Senate passed a bill on Tuesday which would protect the rights of certain religious organizations and pastors to refuse participation in marriage ceremonies which violate their sincerely-held religious beliefs. The Governor said he will sign a bill that offers such protection to pastors and ministers.
A police body camera bill passed in the Texas Senate on Thursday by a split vote of 22-8, but faces the Texas State House which has two of its own bills. The bill does not mandate that Texas peace officers use body cams, but mandates uniformity of policies by those using the cameras provided by a grant. The eight Senators that voted against the bill were all Republicans.
AUSTIN, Texas – Members of the Texas Senate passed a border security measure that significantly raises the level of spending in the state’s effort to secure the Texas border with Mexico. The bill (SB 3) by Senator Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) passed with massive bipartisan support in a vote of 26-4.
AUSTIN, Texas – U.S. Border Patrol Agent Hector Garza testified before the Texas Senate Subcommittee on Border Security in support of creating a multi-state border security compact. Garza told the Senators that Texas must take an aggressive stance against the organizaed criminal enterprises that are smuggling thousands of illegal immigrants into the United States. The bill, SB 1252 by Senator Bob Hall (R-Edgewood), would require the Governor of Texas to negotiate an Interstate Border Security Compact to allow states to enforce federal immigration law.
The Texas Senate appears to be moving slowly on a pair of border security bills, one of which has already passed the House. Border security legislation was set as an “Emergency Item” by Texas Governor Greg Abbott during his State of the State Address where he laid out his legislative agenda for the 84th session of the Texas Legislature. Approximately thirty days later, the Texas House passed HB 11 relating to border security and forwarded that bill to the Senate.
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Senate has officially passed SB 11, the “campus carry” legislation that would expand the state’s concealed handgun license (CHL) rights to allow CHL holders to also carry their guns into certain buildings on Texas’ public colleges and universities. The bill passed its third and final reading on Thursday in the Senate, a move that was cheered by Senate Republicans, who are hopeful that their colleagues in the House will pass the bill as well.
AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Senate, along a party-line vote, gave preliminary approval to the “Campus Carry Bill” which would allow people with a concealed handgun license (CHL) to carry a concealed handgun on public campuses of colleges and universities. The bill withstood a five hour floor debate and then more than two-dozen amendments. The preliminary vote came with a 20-11 vote.
The leader of a pro-gun control group made several statements that were easily proven to be false during her testimony before the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee last Thursday, when she joined hundreds of other members of the public who came to the Texas Capitol to share their opinions about two bills under consideration by the committee, SB 11, the “campus carry” bill, and SB 17, the “open carry” bill. As Breitbart Texas reported, both bills passed the committee and are headed to the Senate for consideration.
After a long day of debate and passionate public testimony from both sides, the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee has voted to recommend that the Texas Senate pass both SB 11, the “campus carry” bill, and SB 17, the “open carry” bill. Both bills now head to the full Texas Senate for consideration. The vote came just before 6:00 pm Central Time on Thursday.
