Today, the Texas Republican Party filed House Bill 20, a bill to allow private citizens to be deputized by the state in an effort to further militarize and harass border communities, immigrants, and people of color. The proposal is nothing short of state-sanctioned violence, following the second anniversary of Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s failed “Operation Lone Star,” his expensive and deadly border operation.

Responding to HB 20, MOVE Texas Action Fund Executive Director Claudia Yoli Ferla issued the following statement:

“This racist bill is the latest in a long and violent history of targeting Black and Brown people across the state. Following a shameful history of Texas’s war on immigrants led by power-hungry, extremist politicians like Greg Abbott, this bill does nothing but embolden hostility and racist bigotry towards immigrant families and border communities.

“This should not have to be said yet again– state leaders should not be toying with our lives by empowering untrained and unaccountable vigilantes with racist policing. As a DACA recipient and as someone who grew up on the border, I’ve seen first-hand how militarization does not make our communities safer, but instead, normalizes state sanctioned violence against those who are most vulnerable.

“The current immoral system doesn’t recognize the humanity of our communities. It criminalizes their identities and who they are. The real crisis on the border is Greg Abbott and his shameless cronies who have been purposefully manufactured and empowered to promote violence through their racist anti-immigrant rhetoric. Border communities are already safe not in spite of immigrant families, but because of them. And we deserve real investment and actual solutions from the people that are supposed to represent us too.

“As an organization who serves young people in border communities across the state, we condemn this and every other anti-immigrant bill that is snaking its way through the Texas Legislature. We choose to recenter the dialogue on how we support, welcome, and empower those who come to our country.

“Texas politicians could be leading the country’s efforts to support immigrants and our communities, fighting against racism and inspiring a young generation of future leaders. We are worthy of what we all expect and deserve – a home where we are safe, supported, and one that honors and complements our many layered identities.”