Sheriffs worry about housing detained migrants at US-Mexico border
Newsy
Rural sheriffs who support the law criminalizing illegal entry into the U.S. are concerned about housing the expected influx of apprehended migrants.
Texas' expansion into immigration enforcement remains on hold as it winds its way through the federal courts.
The law known as SB4 gives state and local police the authority to arrest people suspected of crossing into the U.S. illegally. It makes illegal entry onto U.S. soil a state crime, first punishable as a misdemeanor, then a felony for repeat offenders.
The question for a rural county in West Texas—whose leaders support the law—is how much it will cost to enforce.
Terrell County is sparsely populated with less than a thousand people, but it's the tenth largest county in Texas in terms of land mass. Sharing roughly 50 miles of border with Mexico, it lies right next door to Big Bend National Park. It has wide open spaces, picturesque canyons, and acres of scrub brush. A hiker can venture down to the Rio Grande, the natural barrier between the U.S. and Mexico, and throw a stone to the other side.
Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland served as a U.S. Border Patrol agent for more than two decades before switching to local law enforcement.
