The Lone Star State has long faced the issue of illegal immigration head-on, more often than not being the subject of the ongoing Border Crisis. Now the Texas House of Representatives is equipping police with more power after a bill passed this morning allowing them to deport undocumented or illegal aliens.
House Bill 4 was one of three bills passed on the morning of October 26, 2023. The bill is groundbreaking as it allows local authorities to circumvent the autonomy of the federal government, who usually holds jurisdiction over matters of deportation of illegal immigrants.
The bill was heavily debated and caused a stir in the Texas House of Representatives. "It hurts us to our f---ing core," said State Rep. Armando Lucio Walle (D-TX) "And you don’t understand that. You don't live in our skin. And that’s what pisses me off."
The legislation was passed 84-60 and is expected to pass the state Senate as Republicans enjoy a majority in both chambers of the state Congress. Republican State Rep. David Spille (R-TX) called the bill, "humane, logical, and efficient," adding, "There is nothing unfair about ordering someone back from where they came if they arrived here illegally."
The Southern Border has been the subject of intense political debate in the 2020s so far. After Biden's inauguration in 2021, Republicans were swift to criticize his and VP Kamala Harris' (D) job fighting against illegal immigration. Even Governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis (R-FL) paid a visit to the border himself, along with other Florida Republicans.
