On Wednesday March 24 the Senate Border Security committee met to lay out their first round of bills. The senate committee was created last special session in order to address the crisis at the border and oversee Operation Lone Star, the governor led military operation at the Texas border, a topic I’ve addressed in multiple previous posts.
Texas Impact has long been a defender of migrants rights and has called for humane reform at the border that both secures our state boundaries, but also treats migrants with dignity and consideration for the complex factors that have caused them to flee. We have criticized efforts by both the federal government and the state to criminalize migrants and deter them with brutal tactics such as family separation. Unfortunately, the state and the federal government seem to be doubling down on such harsh tactics as made so abundantly clear at the Senate Border Security hearing this week.
Six bills were brought to the committee, and none of them examine the full picture of the border situation. Senate Bills (SB) 600, 1403, 1427, 1709, 1900, 2424 and Senate Committee Resolution (SCR) 23 were laid out by the committee. These bills were all aligned in their purposes: to raise the criminal penalties for crimes associated with the border, to criminalize crossing the border illegally (already covered by federal policy), to label cartel groups as transnational gangs, and to engage in these actions with other states through an interstate compact. The perspective of these bills truly fail to holistically address the border crisis. Increased criminal penalties have consistently shown time and time again to not deter criminal activity; the investment of state resources into “securing” the border have proven to not have any real demonstrable effect on either cartel activity or migration into the state; and most importantly policies like these consistently throw innocent migrants into painful and dangerous situations.
What is most concerning with the senate committee hearing is the rhetoric used. Previously, we have talked about the ramp up of “invasion” rhetoric. Last fall Gov. Abbott declared that Texas is being invaded, a measure the far right has been calling for for a while. The declaration has not changed any policy in Texas, but it has encouraged the conversation at Texas legislature to devolve into one characterized by caravans of criminals destroying our state. The conversation refuses to separate the distinction between cartels and migrants, throwing them under the same category, which could soon be “foreign terrorists.” Previous meetings by this committee and of the House Committee for Homeland Security both have had witnesses describe as much with sheriffs and representatives of the governor’s office stating that all migrants who cross the border illegally are collaborators with cartels. Evidence would show that innocent migrants will be caught up in these harsh punishments in the bills brought to the committee and there is fear that migrants will be labeled as “terrorists.” Only once in the committee hearing did a senator, Sen. Hinojosa, warn that the committee needed to be careful to not conflate the issue of cartel activity, with mass migration to Texas.
Cartel activity at the border is of course a major issue and there should absolutely be steps put in place to address that. But right now, Operation Lone Star and current legislation is attempting to both dissuade immigration to Texas and crack down on cartels with the same tools, and this leads to unnecessary human suffering. Texas Impact continues to work to protect migrants, and keep our state safe and healthy.