Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state troopers on Wednesday to begin pulling over vehicles whose drivers are transporting migrants who pose a risk of carrying COVID-19, escalating his hardline approach on immigrants and eliciting outrage from advocates calling the order a ticket to racial profiling.

The executive order allows Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to reroute those vehicles back to their origin point or a port of entry, or seize the vehicles if the driver does not comply.

Abbott said in a statement that his order “will reduce the risk of COVID-19 exposure...