Convicted felons caught illegally crossing into Texas could face up to life in prison under a new Republican bill.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick joined "America's Newsroom" to discuss the state's attempted border crackdown after a group of roughly 1,000 migrants were seen rushing the Paso Del Norte bridge in El Paso, Sunday.
"We filed a bill on Friday, Senate Bill 2424, to show those coming here illegally we mean business in Texas," Patrick said Monday. "If you come here, and you have a conviction for a felony, you could face up to life in prison. This is a brand new crime. And if you cross illegally for any reason, up to a year in jail, the second time up to two years."
If passed, SB 2424 would make crossing into Texas illegally a "new state crime" and authorize state law enforcement to "arrest and prosecute all people who cross the border illegally anywhere in Texas," a statement from Patrick reads.
"A word to those criminals that continue to cross the border: we're going to put you in jail for up to life," Patrick added Monday.
BORDER CRISIS: OVER 1,000 MIGRANTS RUSH BRIDGE LINKING MEXICO TO US IN EL PASO, TEXAS
The warning came after a massive group of migrants, mostly from Venezuela, were stopped from overrunning a U.S. entry point that bridges Mexico and the U.S.
Patrick said he is not surprised Texas acted quickly to respond to the crossings, but added the dangerous situation shows what can happen as long as President Biden "continues to leave this border wide open and invite people to come to America."
"Imagine had those thousand not stopped, you could have had bloodshed on the border," he said. "How would the Mexican troops have responded? How would those rushing the barbed wire responded? How would our troops have responded? And this is what could happen as long as Joe Biden continues to leave this border wide open and invite people to come to America."
Patrick urged Mexico to step up and close their own southern border.
"Their border is much smaller than our 1,900-mile border," he argued. "They could stop these people from even getting into Mexico. That's what Mexico could really do to help."
Patrick said that under President Biden, America is experiencing disasters everywhere that have forced his state's hand.
"When you send fentanyl across the border, you're taking lives of Americans, many, the number one cause of death for young people," he said.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, is introducing legislation that would designate Mexican drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) in response to the ongoing trafficking of migrants and deadly drugs in the U.S. being facilitated by those cartels.
The Drug Cartel Terrorist Designation Act would require the State Department to designate the Gulf Cartel, the Cartel Del Noreste, the Cartel de Sinaloa, and the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion as foreign terrorist organizations.
The bill would also require the State Department to issue a report on those cartels and any additional cartels that meet the criteria for such a designation.
Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report
