The Texas Senate has passed a bill that would create a new crime for foreign nationals who enter the state illegally and authorize law enforcement to arrest any offender anywhere in the state.
The bill, SB 2424, cleared the state Senate last week in an 18–12 party-line vote. It would create a new state-level criminal offense called “improper entry from foreign nation,” which carries a penalty of up to one year in jail for first-time offenders, two years in state jail for second-time offenders, and up to life in prison for convicted felons who illegally cross the border.
According to the bill, this offense applies to any foreigners who “enters or attempts to enter this state from a foreign nation at any location other than a lawful point of entry; eludes examination or inspection by United States immigration officers; or attempts to enter or obtains entry to this state from a foreign nation by an intentionally false or misleading representation or the intentional concealment of a material fact.”…