Bill Text: TX SB2424 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relating to illegal entry into this state from Mexico by a person who is not a citizen or legal permanent resident of the United States; creating criminal offenses.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 7-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2023-05-23 - Postponed 6/1/23 10:00 AM [SB2424 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-SB2424-Comm_Sub.html

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88R30572 JRR-F
By: Birdwell, et al. S.B. No. 2424
(Hefner)
Substitute the following for S.B. No. 2424: No.

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to illegal entry into this state from Mexico by a person
who is not a citizen or legal permanent resident of the United
States; creating criminal offenses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Title 10, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Chapter 51 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 51. ILLEGAL ENTRY FROM MEXICO
Sec. 51.01. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "port of entry"
means a port of entry as designated by 19 C.F.R. Part 101.
Sec. 51.02. ILLEGAL ENTRY FROM MEXICO. (a) A person who is
not a citizen or legal permanent resident of the United States
commits an offense if the person enters or attempts to enter this
state by crossing its border with Mexico at any place other than a
port of entry.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor,
except that the offense is a state jail felony if it is shown on the
trial of the offense that the actor has previously been finally
convicted of an offense under this section.
(c) A peace officer may, in lieu of arrest, remove a person
detained for an offense under this section by collecting any
identifying information the person may have, transporting the
person to a port of entry, and ordering the person to return to
Mexico.
(d) A law enforcement officer of the Department of Public
Safety who arrests a person for an offense under this section shall,
to the extent feasible, detain the person in a facility established
under Operation Lone Star or a similar border security operation of
this state.
(e) A court may not abate the prosecution of an offense
under this section on the basis that a federal determination
regarding the immigration status of the actor is pending.
Sec. 51.03. REFUSAL TO COMPLY WITH ORDER TO RETURN TO
MEXICO. (a) A person commits an offense if, following the
commission of an offense under Section 51.02(a), the person refuses
to comply with an order to return to Mexico delivered by a peace
officer under Section 51.02(c).
(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the second
degree.
SECTION 2. Section 102.002, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended by adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
(b-1) A local government shall pay actual damages, court
costs, and attorney's fees awarded against an employee of the local
government if the damages arise from a cause of action resulting
from actions taken by the person to enforce Chapter 51, Penal Code,
during the course and scope of the person's employment for the local
government.
SECTION 3. Section 104.002(a), Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), the state is
liable for indemnification under this chapter only if the damages
are based on an act or omission by the person in the course and scope
of the person's office, employment, or contractual performance for
or service on behalf of the agency, institution, or department and
if:
(1) the damages arise out of a cause of action for
negligence, except a wilful or wrongful act or an act of gross
negligence; [or]
(2) the damages arise out of a cause of action for
deprivation of a right, privilege, or immunity secured by the
constitution or laws of this state or the United States, except when
the court in its judgment or the jury in its verdict finds that the
person acted in bad faith, with conscious indifference or reckless
disregard; [or]
(3) the damages arise out of a cause of action
resulting from actions taken by the person to enforce Chapter 51,
Penal Code; or
(4) indemnification is in the interest of the state as
determined by the attorney general or his designee.
SECTION 4. Section 157.903, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 157.903. AUTHORITY TO INDEMNIFY ELECTED AND APPOINTED
COUNTY OFFICERS; INDEMNIFICATION REQUIRED IN CERTAIN CASES. (a)
The commissioners court of a county by order may provide for the
indemnification of an elected or appointed county officer against
personal liability for the loss of county funds, or loss of or
damage to personal property, incurred by the officer in the
performance of official duties if the loss was not the result of the
officer's negligence or criminal action.
(b) If a county adopts an indemnification order under
Subsection (a), the order must indemnify an elected or appointed
county officer for damages resulting from actions taken by the
officer to enforce Chapter 51, Penal Code, during the performance
of official duties.
SECTION 5. It is the intent of the legislature that every
provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word
in this Act, and every application of the provisions in this Act to
every person, group of persons, or circumstances, is severable from
each other. If any application of any provision in this Act to any
person, group of persons, or circumstances is found by a court to be
invalid for any reason, the remaining applications of that
provision to all other persons and circumstances shall be severed
and may not be affected.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect July 1, 2023, if it
receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for effect on that
date, this Act takes effect September 1, 2023.