Mexico filed a court brief supporting the US Department of Justice’s opposition to a Republican backed Texas law that would empower state authorities to arrest and prosecute people suspected to illegally cross the US-Mexico Border.
The law known as Senate Bill 4 would make it a state crime to illegally enter or re-enter Texas from a foreign country and would allow state judges to order the violators to leave the United States, with prison sentences upto twenty years, for those who refuse to comply. It has been blocked by a federal judge and is currently under appeal.
“Mexico is deeply concerned that SB-4 will be applied in a discriminatory manner and fears that its enforcement will lead to improper harassment, detention, removal and criminalisation of Mexican citizens and individuals of Latino appearance,” the document said.
Critics of the measure point out that the migrants who cross the border can already be charged with illegal entry or re-entry under US Federal Laws and immigrant advocates say a state law could, fuel racial profiling. On March 21, 2024, dozens of migrants broke through fencing and razor-wire and knocked down some Texas military personnel and forces in El Paso after waiting on the US side of Rio Grande, a witness said.
The group pushed past the forces to a sector of border wall where they could be processed by US Border Patrol, the witness said. By 3PM, the migrants had been moved from the site and now the situation is under control, US Customs and Border protection said in a statement.
About 139,000 migrants have been apprehended in the area near El Paso since October 1, 2023 according to the internal CBP statistics, making it one of the busier stretches of the border. Texas governor Greg Abbott, a Republican has taken a range of actions to discourage border crossing saying that Democratic president Joe Biden has not adequately secured the border.
The Biden administration says that some Texas actions have interfered with immigration enforcement which has historically been the realm of the federal government. Mexico has under stood its concern about the potential repercussions of the Texas law and on US-Mexico trade and commercial relations, as well as the relations between Mexico and state.
“If the SB-4 is fully implemented, Mexican citizens, regardless of their immigration status and country of residences will rightly be afraid to visit Texas and engage in commercial trucking through Texas or travel on rail to Texas for work or pleasure, out of concern that they will be subjected to unlawful scrutiny and detention by the border authorities,” Mexico said.
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