Texas Has Made Thousands of Arrests at the Southern Border as Detainment Powers Expand

(PatriotWise.com) — Even before Texas’ new law allowing state law enforcement to arrest illegal aliens takes effect in March, the state’s smaller-scale operation launched in 2021 has already led to nearly 10,000 illegals being arrested on misdemeanor trespassing charges, the Associated Press reported.

Under the “arrest and jail” operation launched in 2021, landowners along the Texas/Mexico border enter into agreements with the state to authorize trespassing arrests of illegals who cross the border through those properties.

The trespassing arrests have been challenged in court on various constitutional grounds, including due process violations. In a recent challenge, a landowner asked state officials to stop making arrests on their property, claiming that the state never received permission.

In promoting the “arrest and jail” operation, Governor Greg Abbott predicted in a July 2021 interview on Fox News that when illegals hear that they will be arrested for trespassing, “they’re going to stop coming across the Texas border.”

However, there is little sign that the operation has made a dent in illegal border crossings.

In FY2021, the number of illegals crossing the Texas/Mexico border topped 1.2 million. In FY2022, the total number increased to 1.5 million.

The trespassing arrests were part of the governor’s nearly $10 billion Operation Lone Star to secure the border. As part of the operation, the state has installed concertina wire along various stretches of the border and installed floating barriers in the Rio Grande. The state has also transported an estimated 80,000 illegals to Democrat-run cities in the US like Chicago, Denver, New York, Los Angeles, and the District of Columbia.

The state’s new law granting Texas law enforcement the authority to arrest illegal border crossers is already facing challenges in court, with civil rights organizations suing to stop the law from taking effect in March.

The Biden Justice Department warned on Thursday that it would file a lawsuit against Texas if the state did not assure federal officials by January 3 that the law would not take effect in March.