Texas governor signs bill making illegal border crossing into U.S. state crime

HOUSTON, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Monday signed a highly controversial bill that makes illegal immigration into the second largest U.S. state a state crime.

Under the law, which is expected to take effect in March, state law enforcement officers will be authorized to arrest migrants who cross the border illegally.

Afterwards, the detained migrants could either agree to a Texas judge's order to leave the country or be prosecuted on misdemeanor charges carrying a punishment of up to six months in prison. Repeat offenders could face more serious felony charges with a punishment of two to 20 years in jail.

The legislation is aimed to "stop the tidal wave of illegal entry into Texas," the governor said at the signing ceremony in Brownsville, a major border city in south-eastern Texas.

"The consequences of it are so extreme that the people being smuggled by the cartels, they will not want to be coming into the state of Texas," Abbott said.

"(President Joe) Biden's deliberate inaction has left Texas to fend for itself," claimed the governor, who has repeatedly slammed the White House for failing to address the continuous border crisis.