Gov. Abbott Has a Bold New Plan to Deal With Illegals in Texas

"Biden’s deliberate inaction has left Texas to fend for itself," Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott said in Brownsville on Monday as he signed three bills into law meant to deter illegal aliens.

Don't mess with Texas, indeed.

If you thought the situation on our southern border — aka "WHAT southern border?" — was chaotic, wait until the fight over the bills Abbott just signed hits the courts.

You could almost hear the scorn in this NBC News report that reminded readers, "Crossing into the United States between designated ports of entry is already a crime under federal law," with zero context about the border crisis created by Presidentish Joe Biden and Homeland Security Chief Alejandro Mayorkas.

Hoping to rectify that at the state level, Abbott signed Senate Bill 3, Senate Bill 4, and (same name, different session) another Senate Bill 4.

SB3 provides another $1.5 billion for barrier construction and "up to $40 million for state troopers to patrol Colony Ridge, a housing development near Houston that far-right publications claim is a magnet for undocumented immigrants," the Texas Tribune reported with more scorn. But as the Dallas Express noted in August, "Colony Ridge development represents the largest 'colonia' in the United States, home to anywhere from 50,000 to 75,000 unlawful migrants," and that "the Gulf and Sinaloa Cartels invested resources into the Colony Ridge development early on."

The earlier SB4 increases the minimum sentence for smuggling immigrants or operating a stash house to 10 years from two years.

Where the courts will probably have to get involved is the second SB4, which makes it a state crime to cross into Texas anywhere other than at a legal port of entry. First-time offenders face Class B misdemeanor charges and up to six months in jail. Repeat offenders could spend two to 20 years in prison on second-degree felony charges.

But here's the kicker: a judge can drop the charges if the illegal alien agrees to return to Mexico.

FAIR estimates that there were more than 16 million illegals in the United States as of June, with thousands more crossing in places like Brownsville every day.

Already, a group of 21 Texas Democrats and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus have asked the Justice Department to intervene against Texas' new laws.

White House spokesweasel Angelo Fernandez Hernandez called the laws "extreme" because of course he did, and insisted that the federal government "is charged with determining how and when to remove noncitizens for violating immigration laws," even though Biden and Mayorkas have determined they largely won't.

Earlier this month, the conservative-leaning 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily suspended a lower court order giving cover to Biden's Border Patrol — maybe I need to put both "border" and "patrol" in scare quotes from now on — removing the concertina wire that Abbott had installed along parts of the Rio Grande.

The court hasn't always been so nice to Abbott's attempts to control the border and this time will likely be no different. Last month, the 5th Circuit required Texas to remove a floating barrier on the Rio Grande that Abbott had ordered installed to deter illegals.

The new laws go into effect in February and March, assuming the courts allow it.