Commentary: How struggles over immigration echo the conflict over slavery
In November, the Texas legislature enacted Senate Bill 4 to empower state law enforcement to arrest suspected undocumented immigrants. First-time offenders face six months of imprisonment, while second-timers can be incarcerated for up to 20 years.
Texas prisons are already overcrowded, inhumane spaces. During last year’s heat wave, more than 40 prisoners died when temperatures in some prisons skyrocketed above 130 degrees. Undocumented immigrants would have to choose deportation to avoid these conditions.
Though framed in racially neutral terms, S.B. 4 is unmistakably racist. , S.B. 4 would authorize further racial
