Senate moves forward on its plan to create border police force

AUSTIN (Texas Tribune) – The Texas Senate gave final approval Wednesday evening to the GOP’s priority immigration legislation, which would create a new state border police force. House Bill 7 would also make it a state crime for migrants to enter the state anywhere but a port of entry, create a mandatory 10-year minimum sentence for human smugglers, and devote $100 million for new detention centers, courts, security and economic development projects for border communities. It’s the most sweeping of a Republican package of bills that aims to stiffen the...