Post by Tex on Dec 21, 2023 18:16:48 GMT -6
A bill recently signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott which made it a criminal offense in Texas to illegally enter the country has made some major headlines over the past week. The bill which essentially allows state officers to take a Texas-sized step into territory only chartered by federal judges and law enforcement, allowing local magistrates and officers to essentially deport immigrants. While human rights groups have already begun legally challenging the law, an immigration attorney told MySA this new practice would create a logistical nightmare if it went into practice.
“I think what that means for our local community is now any police officer, because the bill is pretty vague as it defines who is allowed to do these stops and make these arrests, is any peace officer from the chief of police, theoretically, down to a fire marshal or a park ranger, any officer that’s charged with keeping the peace in Texas can stop and inquire as to whether somebody has entered legally in the United States if they have reasonable suspicion,” Hernandez told MySA. “I think the problem is how do you know? Where does that reasonable suspicion come from? I think, naturally, we’re going to see some racial profiling because the story comes from people entering the southern border through Mexico, and the majority of those entering the border are going to be from Central America, Mexico, and Latin American countries.”