States' rights argument on border echos slavery battle
By Sean Kim Butorac / For the Chicago Tribune
In November, the Texas legislature enacted Senate Bill 4 to empower state law enforcement to arrest suspected undocumented immigrants. First-time offenders face six months of imprisonment, while second-timers can be incarcerated for up to 20 years.
Texas prisons are already overcrowded, inhumane spaces. During last year’s heat wave, more than 40 prisoners died when temperatures in some prisons skyrocketed above 130 degrees. Undocumented immigrants would have to choose deportation to avoid these conditions.
Though framed in racially neutral terms, S.B. 4 is unmistakably racist. Like earlier laws, S.B. 4 would authorize further racial profiling of Latinos — including citizens and permanent residents — by law enforcement, well beyond the border.
S.B. 4 is a disastrous rejection of settled law. Historically, immigration enforcement has been a federal power, and the Supreme Court has affirmed this position. This tracks with the vision of the Framers, who anticipated the federal government should regulate the nation’s borders.
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-states-rights-argument-on-border-echos-slavery-battle/
