Rep. Bohac Files Series of Legislation to Strengthen State’s Illegal Immigration Laws

AUSTIN, TX - State Rep. Dwayne Bohac (R-Houston) has filed a series of bills aimed at strengthening Texas’s illegal immigration laws in response to an uptick in drug and human trafficking and international gang violence along the border and in Texas cities.

HB 1375 aims to create uniform and consistent enforcement of Texas’ immigrations laws by cracking down on “sanctuary city” policies.  The bill prohibits municipalities from adopting policies that are not consistent with the state’s immigration laws.

“This legislation is a starting point to bring all state, county, and local government law enforcement bodies into a uniform and consistent enforcement compliance to end the so-called ‘sanctuary city’ policies that exist when one city enforces our immigration laws while another chooses not to,” said Bohac.

HB 1382 requires that law enforcement officers verify a person's immigration status within 48 hours of an arrest and before a release on bond.  Additionally, if that person is found to be in the country illegally, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) must be notified of the illegal status.  These measures will help ensure that illegal immigrants who commit crimes in Texas are thoroughly identified and that ICE officials are afforded the capacity to deal with them in a swift and decisive manner. 

"Too often we fail to identify and properly process those here illegally at the time they are arrested.  We need to ensure that the proper steps are in place to identify and report illegal immigrants to ICE to be tried or deported,” said Bohac.

Finally, HB 608 would require state agencies to report to the Texas Comptroller the fiscal impact on their agency from illegal immigration each year. Currently, there are no statistics addressing the amount of money that schools, hospitals and other entities spend supporting illegal immigrants each year.  HB 608 will help the state have a clearer picture to better address the costs associated with illegal immigration in Texas.

"It’s time that we put an actual cost on illegal immigration in Texas,” said Bohac. 

Last November, Representative Dwayne Bohac was overwhelmingly re-elected to a fifth-term in the Texas House of Representatives.  During the 82nd Legislature, Bohac will be a member of the Business & Industry, the Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence and the Local & Consent Calendars committees.

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