With problematic SB-4, Texas just made the immigration crisis worse

SAN DIEGO >> When I heard that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Republicans in the Lone Star State had concocted a state law that would discourage undocumented immigrants from crossing the border into the United States, I hoped for the best. As someone who has written about the immigration debate for more than 30 years, I have waited a long time for Americans to figure out that this issue isn't just about finding new and more effective ways to enforce current laws.

Immigration experts will tell you that we will never be able to deport our way to an immigration solution. That's because, all around the globe, the movement of people across borders is largely an economic phenomenon. It's a matter of supply and demand. And so, the only way to decrease the supply of immigrants from the other side of the border is to crack down on the demand on this side.

This requires doing something that no politician in either party has the appetite to do: impose economic penalties, even jail time, on those who violate existing federal statutes by knowingly hiring the undocumented. Offenders are likely to include those who own farms, ranches, hotels, restaurants, construction firms and a host of other businesses. But the list of suspects also includes U.S. households — many of which could not function without a helping hand from immigrants who cook meals, cut lawns and mop floors as well as care for children and the elderly.

Unlike desperate immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border, American employers have the resources to fight the government. They can also target elected officials by sending campaign contributions to their opponents. That reality gets politicians in both parties to back down in a hurry and focus their attention on the migrants.

Still, I thought, since Texas fancies itself a state that's tougher than the rest, it must be that Abbott and Co. were ready to fight the fight where it really matters — against employers.

Alas, my excitement was unwarranted. When it had the chance to do something that would have discouraged immigrants from coming to the

United States, Texas showed that it is all hat and no cattle. All it had to offer was an enforcement scheme that has been a bust when tried elsewhere.

With Senate Bill 4, Texas intends to usurp the power of the federal government by allowing state and local police to arrest and remove anyone they “suspect” of being in the country without documents. It makes crossing the border without authorization a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail. Crossing again could constitute a second- degree felony, with a punishment of two to 20 years in prison. Migrants who are convicted would be ordered returned to Mexico, and it would be up to local law enforcement officers to transport them to the border.

If you made a list of the worst ideas ever dreamed up to combat illegal immigration, this one would have to be near the top.

SB- 4 is likely unconstitutional, because states can't veer outside their lane and try to enforce federal immigration law. The courts are still sorting this out. Within a 12-hour period, the Supreme Court allowed the law to proceed, and then the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit blocked its implementation. But there is also a long history of federal court decisions striking down similar state laws and ballot measures that attempted to encroach on the authority of the U.S. government to regulate immigration policy.

It's problematic because state and local cops lack the training to determine whether someone is in the country without the