A set of border security bills under consideration by Texas lawmakers will cause harm to migrants, residents, and state law, according to a state civil rights group.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas is opposed to Senate Bill 11, which would make it a state crime for illegally entering Texas from Mexico, and authorize state police to arrest violators.

It's similar to legislation that failed to pass in an earlier session this year.

Traditionally, the Texas Legislature met every other year - but this is the third time lawmakers have convened in 2023.

ACLU Senior Staff Attorney David Donatti said the never-ending sessions are relentless and exhausting voters.

"A part of what makes it feel so relentless is that this is a special legislative session," said Donatti, "and it is perplexing and troubling, and not the way that the Texas Constitution or laws envisioning lawmaking in the state is supposed to happen."

Donatti said Texas should treat immigration like the human right that it is and create a humane, fair and welcoming process - instead of dehumanizing narratives.

The bills have bogged down due to infighting, and the special session will end tomorrow. Should they pass, Donatti said citizens and non-citizens could be subjected to racial profiling and harassment.

Earlier this year Texas began deploying chains of specially designed buoys down the middle of the Rio Grande River to deter migrants from crossing illegally.

Another deterrent used is "concertina" or razor wire - which Donatti said he's witnessed.

"I've been on the border and I have seen the concertina wire, and I've not only seen the concertina wire I've seen families separated by the concertina wire," said Donatti. "And it really defies all common sense - and it defies all humanity."

Last week a judge ordered federal border patrol agents not to interfere with razor wire that Texas has installed. A second hearing in the case is scheduled for this week.

Support for this reporting was provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

In a blow to free speech and the right to assemble, the U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to hear a case involving the rights of protest organizers in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

McKesson v. Doe stemmed from protests over the 2016 police killing of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A protest organizer faced charges after a police officer was injured by the actions of an unknown protester.

Cicley Gay, board chairwoman of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, said an opinion by the Fifth Circuit now stands, allowing an organizer to be held liable for the individual actions of others at a protest based on negligence.

"This case without question infringes upon all of our First Amendment rights," Gay contended. "It's incumbent upon us to reject its premise and its intention, which is, frankly, to scare champions of justice and organizers away from mass protest."

The Fifth Circuit covers Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, and Gay noted the First Amendment still protects the right to assembly. Black Lives Matter protests have attracted diverse groups of people and a Harvard study shows 26 million participated in protests in 2020.

Protesting at college campuses across the country has been on the rise, with students complaining law enforcement involvement has made matters worse. Gay argued it is important for Mississippians to remember Martin Luther King Jr. and understand protest is at the core of every successful social movement in this country.

"We want our young people to be able to continue to raise their voices," Gay emphasized. "Oftentimes, protest is not pretty. It is intended to disrupt. And as long as people are doing it peacefully, they should be entitled to do so."

Gay stressed the Fifth Circuit decision essentially eliminates the right to organize a mass protest because organizers could be held financially liable if even one protester commits an illegal act.

A new statue at the U.S. Capitol honors Arkansas civil rights activist Daisy Gatson Bates.

The eight foot bronze statue is in the National Statuary Hall.

Bates has a newspaper in her arm, is holding a notebook and a pen, and is wearing a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People stick pin.

She and her husband owned and operated the Arkansas Weekly newspaper - that was devoted solely to telling the stories of the Civil Rights Movement.

Current president of the Arkansas NAACP Barry Jefferson said Bates is best known for her work with the Little Rock Nine - the students who integrated Arkansas public schools in 1957.

"When they was desegregating Little Rock Central High school," said Jefferson, "she stood and fought for that and stood with them and walked them in every single day."

After working with the Little Rock Nine Bates continued to fight for Civil Rights and was a speaker at the March on Washington in 1963.

She was president of the Arkansas NAACP from 1952 to 1961.

Each state can place two sculptures in the Statuary Hall. The Bates statue replaces one of a little-known 19th century Arkansas resident.

The decision to honor Bates had bipartisan support. Jefferson said the move is a sign that Arkansas is evolving.

"It's saying that we're trying to move in the right direction, and rewrite the wrongs that have happened for the state of Arkansas for Black people," said Jefferson, "by presenting her statue at the National Capitol to show that - hey, Arkansas is trying to grow, Arkansas is trying to move forward."

The third Monday in February is Daisy Gatson Bates day in Arkansas. She died in 1999 and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom.





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The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas says it is monitoring protests at college campuses, after almost 60 students protesting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were arrested during a demonstration at the University of Texas in Austin.

State troopers on horses and in riot gear were called in to control the crowd. ACLU Staff Attorney Brian Klosterboer said students planning to participate in peaceful protests should know their rights.

"We encourage everyone to follow the guidance of law enforcement even if they believe that law enforcement might be violating their First Amendment or constitutional rights," said Klosterboer. "It's important that people try to stay safe. Remember, they also have a right to remain silent. You can ask if you are free to leave."

Charges were dropped against the protesters in Austin. Students also held a sit-in at the University of Texas in Dallas and a walkout was held at the University of Texas in Arlington.

Following the arrests of the protesters, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said on the social media platform X that the students belonged in jail, and accused them of hate speech.

Klosterboer said when state officials attack free speech, they undermine the core of democracy.

"Texas public universities were specifically designated by Gov. Abbott as traditional public forums," said Klosterboer. "That's where students and others who are engaging in any kind of speech, whether it's passing out Bibles and religious literature or engaging in protests for human rights. That's where free speech is at its apex."

He added that if someone feels their civil liberties have been violated, they can file a complaint on the ACLU website.

The demonstrations in Texas are part of nationwide protests calling for a ceasefire between the Israeli forces and Hamas.





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