Last year the US state of Texas introduced a controversial law designed to control the huge number of undocumented migrants crossing its southern border with Mexico. The law known as Senate Bill 4 or SB4, allows local and state police the power to arrest and charge people with a newly created state crime - ‘illegal entry’.

Immigration law has historically been handled by the federal government. Crossing the border is a federal crime and addressed by immigration courts that fall under the justice department.

Now Texas is embroiled in a legal battle and SB4 has been paused. But it’s just the latest measure that Texas has taken to stop hundreds of thousands of migrants entering the US on its border. Back in 2021 the state’s Governor, Greg Abbott launched a multi-billion dollar border security programme known as Operation Lone Star. Along with his Republican lawmakers, the Governor’s argument is that Texas has a legal right to defend itself and they allege that Democrat President Joe Biden has failed to secure the US southern border in violation of the law.

So, on this week’s Inquiry, we’re asking ‘Can Texas go it alone on border control?’

Contributors:

Dr. Ernesto Castañeda, Director of the Centre for Latin American and Latino Studies and its Immigration Lab, American University, Washington DC, USA

Dr James Henson, Director, Texas Politics Project, Department of Government, The University of Texas at Austin, USA.

Denise Gilman, Clinical Professor, Co-Director Immigration Clinic, The University of Texas at Austin, School of Law, USA

Julia Gelatt, Associate Director, US Immigration Policy Programme, Migration Policy Institute, Washington DC, USA

Presenter: Charmaine Cozier

(Photo credit: Adam Davis via BBC Images