Going into effect early in the month of March, the Senate Bill 4 was proposed in Texas last year dictating that any individuals who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally can be arrested. The bill states that anyone crossing into the U.S. is able to face up to six months in prison.
The law has since hit a snag where the Supreme Court argues if the law should still stand. Since hitting the setback in the Supreme Court, the law has been patchily enforced with some people getting caught and others getting to slip past with the outcome being completely random whether they face any consequences. The bill also states that immigrants can only be arrested if they’re totally without immigration documentation
If the law is going to pass through the Senate it should be enforced and there shouldn’t be such a back-and-forth between the lawmakers and the ones carrying out the enforcement of the laws. The law is not consistent either meaning not every individual is being caught and documented which means only the individuals who are caught get punished as opposed to everyone being treated fairly in the situation.
The law got stuck because of challenges that it faced in the Department of Justice because of the undermining of the federal government’s authority. This is a valid point that the Justice Department makes because it should be a choice of the country as a whole on immigration laws in order to make restrictions even throughout the whole Mexico border.
This law has caused conflict in the authorization process due to the fact that it goes behind the back of the federal government as something that the state doesn’t have the power to enforce its borders independently. According to the Texas Tribune, Article 1, Section 10, it prevents states from engaging in independent wars unless actually invaded. The Texas government has not suffered enough “irreparable harm” according to the Constitution for them to enforce a law on the border specifically applying to their state.
This also puts a disadvantage on asylum seekers because individuals are told to ask for help at the border. There are too many individuals in sheer numbers that the border system is overwhelmed and there is no concrete or efficient way to get all of the people safely to get the help that they need. Individuals are then forced to cross the border in illegal ways. Due to the huge amount of people immigrating, individuals who are caught face repercussions, whereas those who don’t successfully make it across the border. This is a huge inconsistency with the law as a whole.
Overall, Texas lawmakers should be in firm agreement on a law and enforce it accordingly. If there are discrepancies in the effectiveness of the law it makes it hard for individuals to follow it and therefore puts many individuals in an extreme situation where they could possibly get arrested.
This is a slip-up on the lawmaker’s part and they should always make sure that the laws that are produced are in alignment with the U.S. Constitution. Texas needs to make sure that their laws correspond with the needs of the federal government and make their intentions extremely clear to individuals who may be affected by these laws.
