Bill Text: TX SB2 | 2023 | 88th Legislature 1st Special Session | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to the creation of the criminal offense of improper entry from a foreign nation.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 10-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2023-06-07 - Received from the Senate [SB2 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SB2-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Relating to the creation of the criminal offense of improper entry from a foreign nation.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 10-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2023-06-07 - Received from the Senate [SB2 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SB2-Introduced.html
88S10097 JRR-F | ||
By: Birdwell | S.B. No. 2 |
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relating to the creation of the criminal offense of improper entry | ||
from a foreign nation. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Chapter 38, Penal Code, is amended by adding | ||
Section 38.20 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 38.20. IMPROPER ENTRY FROM FOREIGN NATION. (a) In | ||
this section, "alien" has the meaning assigned by 8 U.S.C. Section | ||
1101, as that provision existed on January 1, 2023. | ||
(b) A person who is an alien commits an offense if the | ||
person: | ||
(1) enters or attempts to enter this state from a | ||
foreign nation at any location other than a lawful point of entry; | ||
(2) eludes examination or inspection by United States | ||
immigration officers; or | ||
(3) attempts to enter or obtains entry to this state | ||
from a foreign nation by an intentionally false or misleading | ||
representation or the intentional concealment of a material fact. | ||
(c) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor, | ||
except that if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the | ||
person has previously been finally convicted of: | ||
(1) an offense under this section, the offense is a | ||
state jail felony; | ||
(2) a state jail felony described by Subdivision (1) | ||
or any other felony not listed in Article 42A.054(a), Code of | ||
Criminal Procedure, the offense is a felony of the second degree; or | ||
(3) a felony listed in Article 42A.054(a), Code of | ||
Criminal Procedure, the offense is a felony of the first degree. | ||
(d) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this | ||
section that: | ||
(1) the actor has been granted a federal immigration | ||
benefit entitling the actor to: | ||
(A) lawful presence in the United States; or | ||
(B) asylum under 8 U.S.C. Section 1158; | ||
(2) the actor's conduct does not constitute a | ||
violation of 8 U.S.C. Section 1325(a); or | ||
(3) the actor was approved for benefits under the | ||
federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program between June | ||
15, 2012, and July 16, 2021. | ||
(e) For purposes of Subsection (d)(1), the following | ||
federal programs do not confer federal immigration benefits | ||
entitling the actor to lawful presence in the United States: | ||
(1) the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and | ||
Lawful Permanent Residents; and | ||
(2) any program not enacted by the United States | ||
Congress that is a successor to or materially similar to the program | ||
described by Subdivision (1) or Subsection (d)(3). | ||
(f) 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. | ||
(g) 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. | ||
SECTION 2. 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 3. This Act takes effect August 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 on the 91st day after the last day of the | ||
legislative session. |