BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1600

By: Hefner

State Affairs

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

While a law enforcement officer may lawfully detain and arrest unauthorized entrants for the state-level offense of trespassing, state law requires a property owner to press charges, which in turn can put them in danger due to the crime organizations responsible for the smuggling. Moreover, without a state-level offense allowing the prosecution of unauthorized border crossings, individuals can only be detained for 72 hours before being released. C.S.H.B. 1600 seeks to curb the effects of unauthorized entry into Texas by making the act a third degree felony. The bill provides for the enhancement of the penalty for the offense to a second degree felony for subsequent convictions.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill expressly does one or more of the following: creates a criminal offense, increases the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or changes the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1600 amends the Penal Code to create the third degree felony offense of illegal entry from Mexico for a person who is not a citizen or legal permanent resident of the United States and who enters or attempts to enter the State of Texas by crossing its border with Mexico at any location other than a federally designated port of entry. The bill enhances the penalty for the offense to a second degree felony if it shown on the trial of the offense that the actor has previously been convicted of illegal entry. The bill defines "port of entry" by reference to applicable federal regulations, as they existed on January 1, 2023.

C.S.H.B. 1600 includes legislative findings regarding the designation of Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations due to their participation in human trafficking and fentanyl importation through an executive order issued by the governor. The findings discuss the federal government's failure to enforce federal statutes relating to border enforcement, compelling Texas to protect its own border against invasion by the cartels. The findings note that the governor is the chief of the state military forces and has certain constitutional powers to repel invasion. The findings also establish that the governor has the authority to protect Texans from cartel violence and defend Texas' territorial integrity by enforcing a state law version of the federal illegal entry offense.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 1600 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

Both the introduced and substitute include legislative findings. However, the substitute replaces references in those findings to "President Biden," as in the introduced, with references to "the federal government," as appropriate. The substitute omits the introduced version's reference to federal "open-border policies" in the legislative finding regarding the smuggling of aliens across the Texas-Mexico border by Mexican drug cartels.

The substitute revises the definition of "port of entry" set out in the introduced to include a specification that the referenced federal regulation that applies is the version that existed on January 1, 2023.

The substitute omits the procedural provisions from the introduced establishing that the bill's provisions apply only to an offense committed on or after the bill's effective date and further establishing that the bill provides for the continuation of the law in effect before the bill's effective date for purposes of an offense, or any element thereof, that occurred before that date.