A New Texas Law Threatens Residents and Migrants Alike
The policy would grant broad new powers to police, may be unconstitutional, and illustrates the trend towards ever-more draconian border policy from both parties
This week’s “Ship’s Log”, for paid subscribers, is by journalist Gia Santos, who is based in Texas and is a migrant herself, originally from Mexico.
I waited nearly two decades to get legal residency and citizenship despite both my parents serving in the military separately. My father fought in Desert Storm. He later died at the age of 32 when he traveled back to Mexico for his brother's birthday. My mom served during the Iraq war. This is the story of many migrants whose parents served in the military and, in some cases, served themselves, only to be deported back to Mexico after their service ended.
I'm writing this from Texas where I also grew up. TX is set to pass a new proposed bill for 2024 called SB4 which has already passed the Texas House and Senate The bill makes "illegal entry" into the United States through Texas a state crime and grants broad power to police officers and judges to detain, prosecute and deport undocumented immigrants.
Under the new policy, migrants unable to prove their legal status could face criminal charges resulting in incarceration, fines, and even be ordered to self-deport to the nearest bordering country, in this case, Mexico.
The broad powers granted to police would also likely result in equally broad violations of the civil rights of U.S citizens.
