Texas became the first state to allow undocumented students to attend Texas universities and be able to pay in state tuition. The first group of the students graduated from college since the law was enacted in 2001, although these students still cannot work because they are undocumented. Thus, the passage of the DREAM Act becomes more urgent (Hines 27).
After September 11th, 2001 immigration reform was halted. Congress responded with the USA PATRIOT Act. The PATRIOT Act expanded the government's ability to detain and deport suspected terrorists, greatly increased the budget for immigration enforcement, and tripled the number of U.S. Border Patrol (Hines 12). This brought forth also the deportation of criminal immigrants in Texas that had the issue with the drug war. Border Patrol has received more aid in the South compared to the past due to the violence with cartels and drugs being attached to the illegal aliens crossing the southern border. Governor Rick Perry has assigned the National Guard to the Texas border, but immigrants are still crossing the border. With drug wars and gang violence in Mexico at an all-time high, Texans should expect more illegal immigrant's crossing over.
Mark Krikorian lays out three packages of policies regarding immigration enforcement. The basic package consists of two main goals with regard to illegal immigration fencing and mandating all employers use the E-Verify system. Two more goals with regard to legal immigration, ending the visa lottery and eliminating brother- sister chain migration. Krikorian expressed concerns due to "60,000 adult siblings of U.S. citizens who are allowed to migrate to the United States each year simply because of their brothers or sisters". This type of immigration means a large percentage of Mexico's population has a claim to enter the United States through Texas just because they are siblings of earlier immigrants who enter with their spouses.
