Gov. Abbott: Illegal Immigration Now a State Crime in Texas

Texas Governor Greg Abbott just signed Senate Bill 4, making illegal immigration a state crime. A strong critic of President Biden’s refusal to address the southern border crisis, Gov. Abbott finally took matters into his own hands.

Fox News reports on Texas’ attempt to secure the border:

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday signed a new law giving police the authority to arrest migrants who cross the border illegally.

At the signing ceremony, Gov. Abbott said the goal of Senate Bill 4 was to “stop the tidal wave of illegal entry into Texas.”

Once in custody, migrants could either agree to a Texas judge’s order to leave the U.S. or be prosecuted on misdemeanor charges of illegal entry. Migrants who don’t comply could face arrest again under more serious felony charges.

At the ACLJ, we believe in legal immigration. I’m the grandson of Polish and Russian immigrants who came to America in 1914. We’re a nation of immigrants – but immigration must be done legally.

But right now, the immigration system is broken. And in no way am I blaming the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. It’s breathtaking how overwhelmed they are right now.

Let me give you the statistics from yesterday. Not the last three months, three weeks, or three days – but yesterday. There were 12,600 apprehensions yesterday, which is a single-day record.

It’s likely a much higher number of migrant encounters, though, because all migrants present were not processed. The previous single-day record of 12,000 apprehensions was just a couple of weeks ago. And of course, we have no idea about the “gotaways.”

On top of that, 2.4 million apprehensions have occurred in the last 12 months. Also, don’t forget the ACLJ’s legal efforts in exposing the Biden Administration’s cover-up of Yemen terrorists caught at the border. As we’ve told you, dozens of terrorists on the FBI’s Terrorism Watchlist have been apprehended crossing the border.

Clearly, the border is a serious threat to national security. No wonder Texas signed this new law to curb illegal immigration. How Texas’ new bill plays out legally remains to be seen. Arizona had a similar bill in 2010 that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down.

ACLJ Senior Advisor for National Security and Foreign Policy Ric Grenell joined the broadcast to react to how some of the far Left is finally voicing the dangers of an open border.

We even now have the governor of Arizona, the very left-wing Governor Katie Hobbs, who is saying this is a problem –  the Democratic policy is not working. Now, Jay, what’s really interesting is she ran for office, saying the border wasn’t that big of a deal. . . . Now that she’s in charge, she sees this incredible problem. She’s calling out her own party, telling Joe Biden, he’s not doing enough and asking for more money for help.

The governor of Arizona isn’t alone; New York Mayor Eric Adam recently sounded the alarm on the migrant crisis too.

The truth is every state is turning into a border state. We must regain control of our southern border to protect Americans. President Biden doesn’t have a plan, but the ACLJ will continue to hold the Administration responsible for endangering the lives of Americans.

We have high-level cases going on at the U.S. Supreme Court and across the world as we defend the Israeli hostages. But we also have lawyers working on cases for everyday Americans, and we have a recent ACLJ victory to share with you.

A senior living center in Texas unconstitutionally shut down a weekly gathering of Christians who were meeting for prayer and a Christian message. One of the residents contacted us, and we sent a legal demand letter reminding the senior living center how the Fair Housing Act protects the religious liberty of residents.

After receiving our demand letter, the complex backed down and rightly allowed the Christians to continue meeting. We have won other recent cases of senior citizen complexes violating their residents’ religious liberties in Missouri and Texas.

Folks, we can’t hold the Biden Administration accountable for our southern border or defend Christian residents at a senior citizen complex without your help. We are in the middle of our Faith & Freedom Year-End Drive. Donate today, and your gift will be doubled to support our legal efforts.

Today’s Sekulow broadcast analyzed Gov. Abbott’s new bill and the dangers of an open border. ACLJ Senior Counsel Abby Southerland also gave the latest news on several ongoing ACLJ cases. ACLJ Senior Counsel for International and Government Affairs Jeff Ballabon also updated us on the ACLJ’s efforts to defend Israel.

Watch the full broadcast below: