DALLAS — The Republican lawmaker behind the controversial legislation that makes it a state crime to enter Texas illegally from a foreign country says the criticism is overblown.
And after hearing our last episode of Y’all-itics, State Rep. David Spiller, R-Jacksboro, wanted to join the podcast to clear up what he calls “mischaracterizations” concerning Senate Bill 4.
“All this mass hysteria and fear mongering, in my view, and telling folks hey, it’s going to be another ‘show me your papers’ and we’re going to be locking people up right and left, I just don’t think that’s going to happen,” Rep. Spiller told us on a special release edition of Y’all-itics. “I think most of the enforcement is going to be on the border where officers see people coming across and they’re going to handle them accordingly.”
First and foremost, Rep. Spiller says the bill passed by the Republican-led majorities in the state House and Senate is not “show me your papers” legislation.
The Republican says once the legislation is signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott, which is expected, it will do nothing more than mimic existing federal law, focused on a misdemeanor criminal offense.
He says even the punishment mirrors federal law and does not exceed it.
“If someone, an alien, enters our country illegally, basically at a place other than a port of entry, then they’ve committed a state criminal offense, a Class B misdemeanor. And there’s nothing really new about that. That’s an existing federal law, has been on the books for years,” the lawmaker said.
Democrats and other critics of the legislation worry about racial profiling.
But Spiller, who wrote the identical, and jointly filed, House Bill 4, says it focuses on illegal entry and has absolutely nothing to do with race.
“As a matter of fact, we have people come across our southern border from over 100 different countries. I don’t know which race that we’re talking about,” he countered.
Democrats are also concerned that the legislation will let local and state police ask people to prove their citizenship.
Congressman Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, told us it’s not just folks who aren’t supposed to be here who will be questioned.
“You’re going to have a lot of American citizens who are going to have their citizenship contested and challenged, some of those people dragged down to the police stations if they can’t provide that documentation right away. So that’s what you’re going to start seeing on the street,” the Democrat argued.
But state Rep. Spiller says that won’t be the case.
And he points to the fact that all misdemeanors in Texas have a two-year statute of limitation, meaning an indictment must be presented within two years of the offense.
“We’re not going after someone that’s been here longer than two years, three years, five years, ten years. We’re not going after someone’s grandmother that’s been here for 50 years,” the Jacksboro Republican said. “There’s no way that a law enforcement officer that would make a stop can prove that, or meet the element to that sufficient to arrest someone and charge them with illegal entry.”
Spiller also argues that 95% of enforcement of SB 4 will happen within 50 miles of the border, with most involving “on view” observations of people breaking the law.
But he does say in some instances, law enforcement could also use technology, such as video surveillance.
The Republican does clarify, though, that it is a statewide law, so it could be enforced in locations hundreds of miles from the border, such as a Dallas and Texarkana.
But Spiller thinks the farther you are from the border, what he calls the “scene of the crime”, it becomes more difficult for officers to allege – and prove – someone has crossed illegally and that they did it within the last two years.
If that’s the case, we asked why not just narrowly tailor the bill to be enforced within 50-miles of the border?
While Spiller thinks that’s a fair question, he says every county in Texas has now become a “border county” because they’re paying for the failure to enforce immigration laws, through enforcement, healthcare and education.
The Republican represents 12 rural counties northwest of Dallas-Fort Worth, and he says border security is not only the number one issue in his district, but he also believes there are folks in his county jails right now that would qualify under this offense.
“We don’t want to necessarily limit it. We don’t want to tie law enforcement’s hands. And so, that’s why it’s a statewide law,” he explained. “But I do think there would be much less apprehension, arrest, detention, prosecution in these urban counties and places away from the border.”
Democrats and other critics have also said that once the governor signs the legislation, there will be many lawsuits.
That is one area State Rep. Spiller agrees with them.
But he once again reiterated that he doesn’t think the state law will be in conflict with federal law because a state has an inherent right to protect its borders.
And he says Texas’ bill is designed differently than a controversial Arizona law passed in 2010 that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down parts of.
But instead of testing SCOTUS, Spiller says the Texas legislation is written to be constitutional and withstand that scrutiny.
At this point, only time – and the courts – will tell.