Taking Stock of Texas Bills Aimed at Cracking Down on Immigration
They include a proposed Texas Homeland Security
By Maryam Ahmed, Fri., March 14, 2025
Amid a burst of immigration policies from the new Trump administration, the state Legislature has some bills on the table that could intensify the crackdown.
Gov. Greg Abbott has already thrown his support behind President Trump’s immigration approach. In a Jan. 29 executive order, he directed all state agencies to assist in federal immigration law enforcement operations. He also ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to deploy “tactical strike teams” to assist the Trump administration.
The Texas Legislature appears to be following Abbott’s lead. Some of the filed bills would overturn protections for immigrants that have been in place for decades, while others expand on preexisting state laws and new federal policies.
Local and State Law Enforcement
Texas Senate Bill 135, which was referred to the Senate Committee on Border Security, would create a Texas Department of Homeland Security. Luis Figueroa, chief of legislative affairs at the advocacy group Every Texan, said some money would likely be reallocated to the new department from DPS, but he doubted it would do much to address the border crisis.
“Moving the money around is not really what we’ve been advocating for,” Figueroa said. “What we’ve been suggesting is a reduction of some of that money, putting the focus back on the feds.”
Another bill, House Bill 1072, would create a database of children “not lawfully present in the United States” that would include their fingerprints and other identifying information. The database would be maintained by the Department of Public Safety as part of Operation Lone Star or “any successor operation.” The bill would effectively allow children to be detained on “reasonable suspicion” that they are in the United States illegally.
As of now, local law enforcement must decide their role in enforcing immigration laws, especially as Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducts raids in Austin and Central Texas. Senate Bill 4, passed in 2017, prohibits local law enforcement from interfering with ICE activities, but it does not mandate that they aid in federal immigration operations.
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis told KUT that the Austin Police Department would not actively enforce any immigration laws, but it is generally aware of when ICE operates in the Austin area.
Education
In addition to launching ICE raids across the country, including at least one in the Austin area, the Department of Homeland Security revoked the protected places memo on Jan. 21, which exempted schools and places of worship from immigration law enforcement.
Some proposed legislation would make schools even less safe and accessible for undocumented immigrant communities.
For example, House Bill 160 would classify undocumented immigrants as non-Texas residents, even if they went to a Texas high school, making them ineligible for in-state tuition at public universities. Having to pay out-of-state tuition would put higher education out of reach for many lower-income immigrant communities in Texas.
“What’s the alternative if they don’t have employment authorization and they can’t go to school?” Figueroa said. “It doesn’t give them a lot of options to participate meaningfully in their communities.”
HB 160 would overturn the 2001 Texas Dream Act, which allows certain undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition. State legislators have tried to overturn the law in past sessions and have consistently failed. According to a May 2023 report from Every Texan, immigrants with bachelor’s degrees earn approximately twice as much as immigrants with a high school diploma.
HB 160 would also require public universities to report undocumented students to law enforcement, further deterring immigrant communities from higher education.
Similar bills have been filed at the K-12 level. One bill, Senate Bill 1205, would prohibit school districts from using public money to pay for the education of children “not lawfully present in the United States.” It would also make them ineligible for any other public benefits programs, with the exception of Medicaid.
Children of undocumented immigrants have a right to public education, as established by the Supreme Court in its 1982 Plyler v. Doe decision. SB 1205 and other similar bills would effectively overturn this precedent, but – like with HB 160 – efforts to do so have failed in previous sessions.
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