The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday denounced a bill being debated by the Republican state of Texas that would empower a unit of border agents to arrest and return migrants crossing the border into the United States.
Giving Texas police power to agents is dangerous,» said Bob Libal, a consultant for HRW in Texas, in a statement, adding that both the Lone Star operation promoted by Governor Greg Abbott and the new immigration proposals in the state are «extreme.
The bill proposes to grant agents of this unit criminal and civil immunity for wrongdoing and also contemplates a health policy similar to the controversial Title 42, which allowed migrants to be denied the opportunity to apply for asylum during the COVID-19 pandemic.
HRW has called on U.S. President Joe Biden and federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security to »immediately» stop working with and funding the Texas agencies implementing Operation Lone Star.
This policy, which has been active in Texas for three years, is intended to »secure the border and prevent cartels and criminals from smuggling drugs, weapons or other contraband» into the state. Now the Texas House of Representatives is looking to replicate it with other immigration initiatives.
In April a group of lawyers filed a federal lawsuit against Abbott’s Lone Star initiative for discriminatorily arresting migrants crossing the border and targeting »black and Latino people» for prosecution.
Because of this program, more than 5,000 migrants have been arrested and detained for weeks or months without charges, without lawyers or bail, or without a legitimate detention process, the lawsuit said, according to CNN.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
