𝐀𝐁𝐁𝐎𝐓𝐓: 𝐓𝐄𝐗𝐀𝐒 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐃𝐄𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓 𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝐎𝐖𝐍 — 𝐍𝐎 𝐖𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐃𝐒
Sitting down with Benny Johnson, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott laid out just how far his state has gone to take border enforcement into its own hands under 𝐒𝐁𝟒, the law he calls the toughest any state has ever passed.
“SB4 in Texas allows you, the Texas government, to deport independently the illegals inside of Texas,” Abbott said. “𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘸 𝘦𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘰’𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘤𝘰.”
The law has survived a three-year legal gauntlet. This spring the full Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court injunction blocking it, clearing Texas to fully enforce SB4 while litigation continues — a ruling Abbott pointed to directly: “𝘞𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘍𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘸 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.” (Fifth Circuit, U.S. v. Texas)
Abbott didn’t stop at arrests. Asked how Texas shuts off the 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐬 that draw illegal immigration, he ran through the list: no free health care like California offers, 𝐢𝐧-𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 for illegal immigrants after a federal court upheld the ban, and new hiring standards that bar anyone without legal status from the workforce.
𝐀𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤