Texas lawmakers vote to let local police arrest migrants

In a direct challenge to federal power over immigration, the Texas House on Thursday approved the creation of a state-level crime for entering the country from Mexico between ports of entry, allowing local police agencies to arrest and jail migrants entering the country illegally or order them back to Mexico.

The legislation had been called for by Gov. Greg Abbott in what would be a sharp escalation of his multibillion-dollar border security program, known as Operation Lone Star. The Texas House also approved an additional $1.5 billion for the state to use to construct its own barriers near the international boundary.

The arrest measure now returns to the Senate, which has already approved its own version, and then heads to Abbott’s desk for his signature.

“It is a humane, logical and efficient approach,” Rep. David Spiller, a Republican from west of Fort Worth, said in introducing his arrest bill.