Gov. Greg Abbott signs 2 new bills to strengthen border security and immigration enforcement
Efforts to secure the border and combat illegal immigration in the state of Texas are being bolstered by two new bills signed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday.
He joined the Sheriff's Association of Texas annual training along with the U.S. border czar, Tom Homan, in Fort Worth to discuss the legislation.
"Senate Bill 8 and Senate Bill 36 are now law in the great state of Texas," said at the bill signing.
SB 8 would require all Texas sheriff's offices to enroll in a federal program known as 287(g).
It's an agreement where deputies and jailers at the county level would work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to remove people in the country illegally.
Currently, in North Texas, Tarrant, Denton, and Collin counties are already participating at different levels. Dallas County is not.
Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn is in favor of the move.
"We just became uniformed in the state of Texas that we were involved," said Waybourn. "It's a promise to uphold the immigration law, and I think it was something that was good."
SB 36 will create a division of Homeland Security within Texas's Department of Public Safety to, among other things, consolidate border operations and intelligence resources.
"You're out there putting your lives on the line, so are you, deputies," Homan said. "So, God bless you and God bless you for signing that 287(g). That's a game changer for the state of Texas."
Homan also took the opportunity to use colorful language in saying assaults on ICE and federal agents need to stop.
"You impede a federal ICE officer, you're going to jail," said Homan. "You put hands on an officer, you're going to jail. You harbor and conceal an illegal alien, you're going to jail. You throw a rock at an officer, you're going to jail. This s--- stops now."
Homan went on to say the border is more secure now than it has ever been, but there was no mention of whether these new enforcement efforts might hurt relationships between the sheriff's offices and legal immigrant communities.
