By Federale
01/19/2024
Not too long ago Texas passed a law making illegal entry into Texas from a foreign country a State crime. It was not immediately enforced and whether it would be was a question. It is on shaky legal grounds — immigration is an exclusively Federal responsibility — but the Constitution does give States the right to use force to repel an invasion, and any use of force in a military scenario would include taking prisoners. So, one might be able to squeeze the Texas statute past Constitutional muster. The real question is “What will the Biden Regime do in response?”
The Biden Regime upped the ante in the border fight when three illegal aliens drowned in the Rio Grande, with the Regime blaming the seizure of land on the border for fortification and fencing, as well as the expulsion of the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) from municipal land being used for processing and entry by illegal aliens, for the deaths of the illegals in question. This despite the fact that the record shows that the aliens died an hour before the USBP was informed by Mexico of their deaths.
I predicted back in July that the Biden Regime would concoct or exploit illegal alien deaths in the river, and that happened. However, in this case, the deaths occurred before USBP was notified by Mexico that illegal aliens were in distress in the river, so this current controversy does not appear to have any legs.
Texas, though, is not letting up. It has begun arrests of illegal aliens under the Texas statute. I thought they would never actually do it, but kudos to Governor Greg Abbott, he’s not all hat and no cattle, not anymore at least.
Texas authorities arrested migrants at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas, late Wednesday evening and charged them with criminal trespassing, marking the first arrests of migrants since the state took control of the area at the US-Mexico border last week, an official said.
The arrests were announced by Lt. Chris Olivarez at the Texas Department of Public Safety on social media, where he also posted videos on X showing migrants being handcuffed and taken away by authorities.
Single adult migrant men and women were taken into state custody, while migrant families and children were transferred to US Border Patrol, Olivarez said.
“The State of #Texas will maintain a proactive posture in curbing illegal border crossings between the ports of entry,” Olivarez wrote on X.
Texas Authorities Have Begun Arresting Migrants At A Public Park Near The US-Mexico Border, Official Says,by Rosa Flores, Sara Weisfeldt, Aya Elamroussi and Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN, January 18, 2024
Under the authority of Gov. @GregAbbott_TX’s Border Disaster Declaration, @TxDPS Troopers are arresting illegal immigrants for criminal trespass at #ShelbyPark in Eagle Pass. Troopers are enforcing criminal trespass on single adult men & women. The State of #Texas will maintain a… pic.twitter.com/EuRhYDNYLH
— Chris Olivarez (@LtChrisOlivarez) January 18, 2024
However, Texas is making a mistake by not arresting and charging illegal aliens who bring minors with them. Instead of releasing them to the USBP, they should be charged with child endangerment or abuse, as well as the illegal entry statute.
The Texas statute also has a strange provision exempting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) from prosecution, but at the same time does not exempt the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) and other executive action programs. Both DACA and DAPA have been declared illegal and unconstitutional, so there is no reason to exempt those illegal aliens. It may even grant any illegals a collateral attack on the statute.
(3) the defendant was approved for benefits under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program between June 15, 2012, and July 16, 2021.
(d) The following federal programs do not provide an affirmative defense for purposes of Subsection (c)(1):
(1) the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents program; and
(2) any program not enacted by the United States Congress that is a successor to or materially similar to the program described by Subsection (c)(3) or Subdivision (1).
Chapter 51. Illegal Entry Into This State, unattributed, Texas Penal Code
How will the Biden Regime respond? Likely it will be by using civil rights statutes, with the Federal government charging State officials, and even Governor Abbott, with the likely charge being Title 18 United States Code Section 242, Deprivation of Rights Under Color Of Law, presumably based on the Biden Regime policy of making illegal entry a right to be enjoyed by all aliens.
Hopefully Texas will take more action. How about a Punitive Expedition into Mexico?
This is a content archive of VDARE.com, which Letitia James forced off of the Internet using lawfare.