Texas state legislators this week approved a bill to allow the state to arrest, imprison, and possibly deport migrants who illegally enter the United States.
The bill makes it a state crime for anyone without legal authorization to be in the U.S. to enter from Mexico in between legal ports of entry. It would also allow state and local police to arrest people who are suspected of violating this law, and local judges could then order those people to be deported.
The Texas House passed the bill on Tuesday, and the Texas Senate passed the bill last week.
"Texas has the right, authority and ability to protect its borders," Republican state Rep. David Spiller told The Wall Street Journal.
However, Republican state Sen. Brian Birdwell, who chairs the Texas Senate Commitee on Border Security, voted against the bill despite writing multiple previous versions of it.
He told the Journal that legislators "are setting a terrible precedent for the future by invalidating our obedience and faithfulness to the Constitution," saying that only the federal government is permitted to order deportations.
Last week, more than two dozen former immigration judges, who served in 11 states and were appointed by both Republican and Democrat administrations, signed an open letter opposing the bill as unconstitutional.
"The proposed law should offend those who treasure our constitutional protections," the letter states. "And legislators should consider the long-term repercussions of their essentially proclaiming that the Constitution, federal law and due process can simply be ignored."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.