HOUSTON – As the legal battle continues over Texas’ controversial immigration law, also known as SB 4, President Joe Biden traveled to Houston on Thursday for a fundraising event.
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President Biden came to Houston from Dallas, where he was the day before for two private fundraisers events ahead of the November 2024 Election.
His arrival comes as the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Wednesday about reinstating the law.
State lawmakers initially approved SB 4, which allows law enforcement to arrest people they think are illegally crossing the Mexico border.
Under this law, crossing the border illegally would be categorized as a Class B misdemeanor, carrying a potential jail sentence of up to six months. For repeat offenders, the penalties escalate to a second-degree felony, with imprisonment ranging from two to 20 years.
However, it became a hot-button issue because the new law would make it a state crime to cross the Texas-Mexico border between ports of entry.
The new law was expected to go into effect in early March, but legal challenges from the U.S. Justice Department and immigration advocacy groups have repeatedly prevented that. Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the law to go into effect on Tuesday, however, just hours after it was passed, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit filed an appeal, blocking SB 4 once again.
After the appeal, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said, “what’s going on at the border is nothing short of catastrophic.”
The President is expected to land at Ellington Field just before 11 a.m. and is expected to be here for a couple of hours. KPRC 2 will be at Ellington Field as the President lands.