NEWS: Greg Casar, Joaquin Castro Condemn Abbott’s Latest Anti-Immigrant Bills

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Greg Casar (D-Texas) and Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) joined Texas House Representative and Chair of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus Victoria Neave Criado (HD-170) and state advocates to address the national implications of the dangerous and xenophobic legislation passed by the Texas State Legislature. 

Senate Bill 3 and SB4 will have disastrous consequences for immigrants and communities of color in Texas.

“Greg Abbott has really gone off the deep end with his anti-immigrant hysteria. Instead of working on public schools, or health care, or the economy, Abbott puts all his energy — and billions of dollars — into these extreme and unconstitutional anti-immigrant laws,” said Congressman Greg Casar (TX-35). “Abbott’s law would tell police to stop working on solving crimes, and instead ask police to hunt down Texans who look like immigrants. It’s unacceptable. I, along with some of my colleagues in Congress, will ask the Biden Administration to intervene and block these unconstitutional proposals.”

“The anti-immigrant bills on Governor Abbott's desk were written and passed by the xenophobic, extremist, right-wing people who are in control of the Texas Republican party now,” said Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20). “These bills turn every law enforcement officer in the state of Texas into an immigration officer, giving wide latitude to question and challenge the citizenship of just about anyone and interfere with federal immigration enforcement. We’ve already seen how problematic that can get through Operation Lone Star, a program which has violated people’s legal, civil and human rights already.”

“For the past year, the members of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus and our allies have locked arms to defeat policies like SB 4 in the Texas Legislature. But Governor Abbott will go to the greatest lengths to force legislators into passing his unconstitutional and irresponsible agenda,” said MALC Chairwoman Victoria Neave Criado (HD-107). “From wasting millions of dollars each special session to asking for an additional $1.5 billion taxpayer dollars on top of the $10 billion he has already received—Gov. Abbott will now use our hard-earned dollars to execute mass arrests and detention of people across the state. Make no mistake—SB 4 does nothing to protect our border and everything to endanger the 1 in 4 mixed-status families in our state and American citizens. The State of Texas will have to defend this unconstitutional policy in court and we urge our federal government to stop SB 4 from becoming law.”

“Senate Bill 4 will subject Texans across the state to racial profiling, fuel fear and discrimination, and further marginalize vulnerable populations,” said Roberto Lopez, Beyond Borders Senior Advocacy Manager at the Texas Civil Rights Project. “The Texas Legislature has tried year after year to co-opt immigration policy with its own outlandish schemes, not caring who they may harm, imprison, or forcibly remove in the process. The Texas Legislature knew this bill would not be supported by the community, which is why they worked to pass the legislation swiftly, quietly, and with little public input. People deserve to be welcomed with dignity and respect, not profiling and arrest.”

A recording of the press conference is available here.

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Congressman Greg Casar represents Texas’s 35th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, which runs down I-35 from East Austin to Hays County to the West Side of San Antonio.  A labor organizer and son of Mexican immigrants, Casar serves as the Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus for the 118th Congress. He also serves on the Committee on Oversight and Accountability and the Committee on Agriculture.