Texas governor signs law criminalizing illegal entry from abroad

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

64% : "Undocumented immigration into the US has spiked over the last few years with 2.5 million migrants entering the US in 2023, topping the previous high from 2022.
56% : It also empowers state magistrate judges to hear immigration cases and issue removal orders in addition to giving law enforcement the responsibility of ensuring compliance with the law.
48% : The new law includes several exceptions on where enforcement can take place, restricting police from enforcing the law in places of worship, public or private schools, health care facilities, or similar facilities providing services to sexual assault survivors.
42% : An additional bill, Senate Bill 3, was also signed into law to provide over $1.5 billion in state funding for the costs of implementing the new criminal statute.
41% : Governor Abbott won a case earlier this year over a 1,000-foot-long floating barrier in the Rio Grande installed to prevent border crossings when a federal appeals court stayed a lower court's removal order.
38% : Reaction against the laws has been swift with Texas Democrats calling the bill "the most extreme anti-immigrant state bill in the United States," and immigrant rights groups have sued to halt the law.
35% : A similar law was passed in Arizona in 2010 before being struck down in Arizona v. US, where the US Supreme Court held that federal law preempted state attempts to criminalize and enforce illegal immigration laws on a state level.
24% : Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill into law Monday that criminalizes illegal entry into the border state from anywhere but a port of entry, exerting state jurisdiction over what is normally a federal matter.

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