Courthouse News by Cameron Langford / August 24, 2021
Texas’ Republican governor says the funds are needed to arrest immigrants for trespassing and deter others from illegally entering the state. Critics say it’s a waste of money that will deter no one.With Border Patrol apprehensions of immigrants in Texas on pace to surpass 1 million this fiscal year, state lawmakers heard testimony Tuesday on a bill pushed by Gov. Greg Abbott to allocate $1.8 billion for border security.
Four Texas sheriffs, whose counties sit on or near the southwest border with Mexico, kicked off testimony on House Bill 9 before the Texas House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday.
They said they are in favor of the measure because their counties lack the resources to arrest, jail and prosecute the unprecedented number of immigrants who smugglers are guiding through the area’s thick brush.
While most immigrant apprehensions in Texas are of asylum seekers who cross the Rio Grande and turn themselves in to Border Patrol agents, many try to avoid law enforcement.
Zavala County Sheriff Eusevio Salinas testified that Texas has stationed many state troopers in his county to staff Operation Lone Star, an immigration law enforcement initiative Gov. Abbott launched in March, and said he cannot take all the immigrants they arrest into custody due to a lack of resources.
Abbott has assigned thousands of state troopers and Texas National Guard soldiers to the region to “combat the smuggling of people and drugs into Texas,” which he claims is a consequence of President Joe Biden’s “open-border policies.”
More:
https://www.courthousenews.com/texas-house-hears-testimony-on-1-8-billion-border-security-bill/
