Border States Take Action to Address End of Title 42 and Migrant Influx

Texas Governor Greg Abbott is expanding state law enforcement on the border with Mexico, deploying National Guard troops and state police officers to intercept and turn back migrants who are trying to enter Texas illegally. The state is also pushing legislation that would impose new state penalties on migrants and human smugglers, as well as create a border police force and “border protection courts” to enforce state controls. However, legal experts warn that the bills could run afoul of current constitutional precedent, and civil rights groups and Democratic lawmakers oppose the bills as a cruel distraction from the need to provide aid to the desperate people who are making their way to the United States after fleeing poverty and violence.