Texas Governor Greg Abbott Signs Bill For Harsher Penalties on Sanctuary Cities

On Sunday night, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a historic bill punishing sanctuary cities.

This law will impose harsh civil and criminal penalties on local law officials who refuse to comply with federal immigration enforcement, and detentions imposed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.

This is the first bill of its kind one to pass both legislative chambers.

Finally, it seems the burden of illegal immigrants has reached a boiling point where it can no longer be ignored.

As Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick explained after the passage in the Senate:

In the past six years, criminal aliens have been charged with more than 566,000 crimes in Texas including kidnapping, homicide, burglary and much more. There is no excuse for endangering our communities by allowing criminal aliens who have committed a crime to go free.

The new bill provides a wide swath of powers and penalties that the State can wield against localities should they choose to remain “sanctuary cities.”

Watch the Governor explain the bill himself to Fox anchor Tucker Carlson.

The bill will go into effect, and become law, on September 1st, 2017.

Illegal Immigrants Already Cost Texas Billions

If this bill does what it’s supposed to, then Texas is about to get a giant payday.

Why?

Because illegal immigrants cost Texas $12.36 Billion a year—10% of their state budget.

Within this, the crime costs associated with illegal immigrants amounts to (at least) $1 Billion every year on its own.

This frees up a lot of lost income that could be spent on infrastructure or veterans.

By cracking down on sanctuary policies that avoid Federal immigration laws, Texas is fulfilling its duty to its citizens.

This bill will hopefully make the state safer (less overall crime), richer, and less crowded in the major cities.

Additionally, it would reduce incentives for illegals to come and even push many to self-deport, which, at this point, is necessary for both Texas and the rest of the US.