Despite these reassurances, legal experts and immigrant rights groups have strongly opposed the Texas bill, claiming it infringes on the federal government’s authority to regulate immigration.
Democratic Representative Victoria Neave Criado questions the state’s power to deport individuals, asserting that such authority lies exclusively with the federal government.
Resources strained by undocumented
In a broader context, Texas Republicans are not only focusing on legislative changes but also allocating funds for further border wall construction.
With a long-standing issue of unauthorized immigration in the state, the problem has escalated during the Biden administration, with hundreds of thousands of undocumented individuals, some with criminal records, arriving in Texas.
This legislation emerges against the backdrop of a broader immigrant crisis in other states such as New York and Chicago. New York City has witnessed over 130,000 arrivals in the past year, straining local resources. Similarly, Chicago is grappling with the accommodation of more than 18,500 migrants, predominantly from Venezuela, at a considerable cost.
