AUSTIN—The 89th Texas legislative session kicked off this month with lawmakers proposing bills that would coordinate state and federal efforts to secure the nation’s southern border.
Republican lawmakers who spoke at a legislation preview event sponsored by The Texan publication on Jan. 28 discussed ways states can help President Donald Trump make good on his campaign promise to secure the southern border and deport illegal immigrants.
Lawmakers prefiled more than a dozen bills that would support Trump’s efforts.
The agreements would provide ICE with extra manpower and logistical support.
Millions of illegal immigrants crossed into Texas under the Biden administration, prompting Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to launch Operation Lone Star. The multibillion-dollar program provided for building a state border wall, placing barriers such as razor wire along the border, and arresting illegal immigrants for trespassing and evading arrest.
“Now that we have a cooperative partner in Washington with President Trump and with Congress, I think we need to work hand in hand,” Spiller said.
His bill would require local jurisdictions to apply and enter into a 287(g) agreement with ICE if offered.
Right now, ICE doesn’t have the manpower to round up and deport millions of illegal immigrants, so the agreements are sorely needed, Spiller said, adding that hiring and training new federal immigration agents would take up to two years, slowing Trump’s agenda.
Spiller said that currently, 26 Texas county sheriff’s departments have 287(g) agreements. The state has 254 counties.
Under the bill, counties that fail to comply would forfeit state grant money and face enforcement measures from the state attorney general, he said.
Spiller also wants to require authorities to verify the immigration status of those arrested. Currently, law enforcement can check their status, but it’s not required.
Louderback, a retired five-term sheriff of Jackson County, said he has experience administering 287(g) programs as a former sheriff. He said he was instrumental in helping the program spread throughout Texas—something he hopes to encourage with new legislation requiring all 244 jails in the state to seek 287(g) agreements.
He said he would also like to see other states do the same thing.
“It meets every requirement of what we want to do,” Louderback said. “It allows us to put our hands on a person and remove them.”
Both lawmakers propose that the state offset the costs of administering the programs.
Louderback applauded Trump’s national emergency declaration at the southern border.
“The growth, the empowerment of the cartels is phenomenal,” Louderback said. “Most lay people have no idea of the strategic importance of their abilities, their tactics.”
Of the 26 Texas counties in agreements with ICE, all but two operate under the Jail Enforcement Model, Spiller said.
Under the model, authorities identify and process removable noncitizens arrested locally with pending or current criminal charges. The state’s Warrant Service Officer program allows ICE to authorize state and local law enforcement officers to serve and execute warrants on aliens in their agency’s jail.
That bill made national headlines because it gave state authorities the power to arrest and deport illegal immigrants. It remains in limbo after the Biden administration and nonprofit organizations sued.
Spiller said he expects the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to rule on the law at any time.
