Texas senators signal that immigration bills are dead in special session

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

A state Senate committee gave a strong signal on Tuesday that it is not going to approve an immigration bill the House of Representatives passed last week, which would effectively kill one of the governor’s priorities for this special session.

The House approved House Bill 2 by state Rep. Ryan Guillen, R-Rio Grande City, to increase the minimum sentence for someone convicted of smuggling people or operating a stash house to 10 years under state law. That would drop to five years if the defendant cooperates with police or if a person convicted of smuggling is related to the person being smuggled, but it could jump to a minimum of 15 years under certain circumstances.

The House quickly adjourned after it passed its versions of immigration and property tax bills last week rather than waiting for the Senate to consider those measures, which is the normal course of business during a special session. That unusual move forced the Senate to pass the House version of the immigration bill as is. Any bills voted out of the Senate would be dead on arrival in the already adjourned House.

Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, the chair of the Senate Border Security Committee, said during Tuesday’s committee meeting that HB 2 has “significant challenges” and it’s “not my intent to vote it” out of committee.

In the hearing, senators said they took issue with an amendment the House added to the bill that dropped the minimum sentence to five years for defendants who are related to the person being smuggled.

The committee then voted 4-1 to send Senate Bill 5 by Sen. Pete Flores, R-Pleasanton, to the full Senate. That bill is similar to HB 2 but without the amendment that caused committee members to balk.

Cait Wittman, communications director for Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, tweeted on Tuesday that the Senate had previously approved the same amendment during the regular session.

“They were for it then, why not now?” Wittman tweeted.

Birdwell said the committee will meet again either Tuesday after the Senate adjourns or on Wednesday to consider a substitute version of HB 2. Still, with the House adjourned, any bill the committee approves would be dead on arrival.

The committee also passed two other immigration bills.

Senate Bill 2, which passed on a 3-2 vote, would make it a state crime to illegally cross the Texas-Mexico border between ports of entry. Senate Bill 8, which passed on 3-2 vote, would create a border force made up of commissioned law enforcement officers to target smuggling of migrants and drugs along the Texas-Mexico border.

Those bills also have no chance of becoming law because the House did not pass similar legislation and isn’t in session to consider those bills.

Go behind the headlines with newly announced speakers at the 2023 Texas Tribune Festival, in downtown Austin from Sept. 21-23. Join them to get their take on what’s next for Texas and the nation.