Immigration

If passed, this bill will change the Texas Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure to deal with going into Texas illegally and being in Texas without permission.

• Texas Penal Code: A rulebook for laws in Texas that says what crimes are and what punishments people can get if they break the law.

• Code of Criminal Procedure: A set of rules that explains how police, courts, and lawyers should handle criminal stuff, like arrests, and punishments.

• If this bill is passed, punishment for undocumented immigrants going into Texas illegally once or more than once will get worse.

• This bill:

  • Tweaks the rules for making sure people going into Texas who are not allowed are punished. 

  • Limits where people can be arrested or put in detention.

    • Arrest: When the police take someone because they believe that person broke the law. The person cannot leave.

    • Detention: When the police stop someone for a short time to ask questions or check something, but haven’t arrested them yet.

  • Clarifies what these changes mean for crimes that happened in the past and and the ones that happen in the future.

  • Sets the start date for these changes as September 1, 2025.

  • Gets rid of some parts of the current law.

  • Takes schools and places of worship off the list of spots where arrests can't happen.

• If this bill passes, arrests and detentions are still off-limits at:

  • Healthcare facilities (like state-run hospitals and doctors' offices) if someone is there for medical care because of a crime against them.

  • Hospitals giving medical care to people who have survived sexual assualt they’re there for a medical check-up done by a doctor or nurse to collect evidence if someone has been hurt in a crime.

    • Sexual assault: When someone is forced or tricked into sexual contact without their permission. It is a serious crime.

• Right now, going into Texas illegally is a smaller crime called a “misdemeanor.” But if this bill passes, it will be a bigger crime called a “felony, and people who do this will have to go to state jail.

  • If someone was caught going into Texas when they weren’t supposed to before, it turns into an even bigger crime called a “third-degree” felony.

• Right now, going back into Texas when you're not supposed to is a smaller crime called a “misdemeanor.” But if this bill passes, it will be a third-degree felony.

• If this bill passes, there will be worse punishments for people who have commit crimes before:    

  • If the person got removed after more than one small drug or violent crimes, or was excluded under federal immigration law, the punishment goes up to a second-degree felony

  • If they were taken away after doing a bigger crime, the punishment bumps up to a first-degree felony.

• If this bill passes, certain crimes that are a second-degree felony right now, will be first-degree instead, which is a worse punishment.