In Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott has signed a bill into law allowing local law enforcement to arrest immigrants and asylum seekers and charge them with a state crime for crossing the U.S.-Mexico border outside ports of entry. The new crime would be punishable by up to six months in jail, while Texas judges would have the authority to drop the charges if a migrant “agrees” to be returned to Mexico. Governor Abbott spoke from a section of border wall in the Rio Grande Valley Monday, where he also signed two other bills further militarizing the U.S.-Mexico border.
