According to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data, more than 9 million known illegal immigrants have been apprehended at the U.S. southern border under the term of the Biden administration, with most of them released to take up residence throughout the country under its catch-and-release policy.

Immediately upon taking office, President Biden revoked Trump administration “Remain in Mexico” policies while asylum-seeker cases were pending, consequentially causing illegal immigration to skyrocket and overwhelm dedicated U.S. Border Patrol personnel and resources.

As reported by legislative survey research compiled by Darlene McCormic of The Epoch Times, conservative states across the country are taking this neglected national security matter into their own hands in passing or proposing legislation targeting illegal immigration.

Texas:

The Texas 1,254-mile-long Rio Grande border with Mexico represents the epicenter of what most U.S. citizens have come to recognize as a top-level voting issue.

In response, the state has constructed several miles of border wall along with shipping containers and razor wire shore and river buoy barriers to deter entry.

Although Texas’s Senate Bill 4 which further makes it a crime to enter the state outside legal ports of entry was scheduled to go into effect on March 5, the legislation was put on hold and is currently tied up in courts after the Biden administration sued to block it.

If subsequently allowed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the legislation will enable Texas border agents to arrest those who enter the state illegally on Class B misdemeanor charges and sentenced up to six months in jail, with repeat offenders subject to second-degree felony charges and prison sentences up to 20 years.

Senate Bill 4 grants judges the leeway to drop charges if the illegal immigrants agree to return to Mexico.

Oklahoma:

Bordering Texas on the north, Oklahoma’s House and Senate recently passed legislation supported by Gov. Kevin Stitt which prohibits illegal immigrants from entering or living in the state.

Declaring an organized crime crisis including cartels involved with fentanyl, sex and labor trafficking, HB 4156 makes “impermissible occupation” by a person who willfully and without first having obtained legal authorization to enter the United States a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in a county jail, a fine up to $500, or both.

Repeat offenses are deemed felonies punishable by up to two years in prison, a fine up to $1,000, or both.

All illegal immigrants barred from entry or have been issued a removal order from an immigration judge and then enter Oklahoma will face a felony charge carrying a sentence of up to two years in prison, a fine up to $1,000, or both, and those found guilty must leave the state within 72 hours of conviction or release from custody.

Louisiana, Arizona and New Hampshire:

Texas’s neighbor on the east, Louisiana, is considering passage of a GOP-led SB 388 bill that passed the chamber along party lines on April 8 — now headed to the House — which would allow state police to arrest suspected illegal immigrants within the state.

Whereas Trump-leading battleground state Arizona’s Gov. Katy Hobbs vetoed passage of a law similar to Texas’s HB 4 approved by legislators, Senate President Warren Petersen has announced that “If we need to go around her with a constitutional amendment or statutory amendment, we will.”

Subject to approval by its House chamber, Republican-led New Hampshire passed SB 504 allowing police to bring criminal trespassing charges against people suspected of illegally entering the United States from Canada.

Iowa, Tennessee and Georgia:

GOP Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a new Senate File 2340 into law effective on July 1 which makes it a misdemeanor for anyone with an outstanding deportation order, who has been deported, or has been denied admission to the U.S. to be in or attempt to enter the state.

Whereas being in the state illegally jumps to a felony under certain circumstances such as when two or more misdemeanor convictions involve drugs or crimes against a person, as with Texas law, judges have discretion to drop charges if the offender agrees to return to the country from which they entered.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a new law that also takes effect on July 1 which requires state law enforcement agencies to communicate with federal immigration authorities when they discover people are in the country illegally, typically requiring cooperation in identifying, catching, detaining and deporting them.

Georgia lawmakers passed House Bill 1105 awaiting approval by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp which would then immediately require jailers to check the immigration status of inmates in response to the alleged campus slaying of University of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley by paroled illegal Venezuela immigrant Jose Antonio Ibarra.

Florida:

Last year, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB 1718 into law as one of the most aggressive pieces of U.S. anti-illegal legislation which mandates that private businesses with 25 or more employees use E-verify, penalizes employers for hiring illegals, and enhances penalties for human smuggling.

In addition, the bill prohibits issuing a driver’s license to anyone who can’t prove they are lawfully in the U.S., bars local governments from issuing IDs to illegals and invalidates use of ID cards issued to illegal aliens in other states.

Nevertheless, these state walls of defense against an illegal invasion continue to encounter battering barrages of federal wrecking ball opposition so long as Democrats control the White House and Congress.

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