Representative Drew Darby Joins Lawmakers to Pass Stronger Border, Safer Texas Act

AUSTIN – Rep. Drew Darby and a bipartisan group of Texas House members today called for passage of House Bill 11, the Stronger Border, Safer Texas Act, because it will strengthen border security and help law enforcement stop border-related crime wherever it occurs across the state.

“Border security is a federal responsibility but Texas cannot afford to wait for the President or Washington to act,” said Rep. Darby who recently served on the House Select Committee on the Fiscal Impact of Texas Border Support Operations. “The Stronger Border, Safer Texas Act will permanently strengthen the presence of DPS Troopers on the border, curb the flow of the cartels’ supply lines and create a new team of investigators who will help police crack down on crime syndicates wherever they operate in Texas.”'

Key provisions of House Bill 11, co-authored by Representative Darby, include:

• Hiring of certified police officers at the DPS Trooper II level and authorizing 10 hour work days for DPS Troopers serving in the border region, ending the current practice of periodically shifting officers from other parts of the state.
• Creating a DPS Officer Reserve Corps of retired officers who will assist police statewide with background investigations, sex offender compliance checks and other duties.
• Imposing tougher penalties for smugglers, and classifying human smuggling as organized crime.
• Cutting the cartels’ supply lines with new southbound checkpoints within 250 yards of the border to curb the flow of stolen vehicles, guns and money from being smuggled into Mexico.
• Establishing a multiagency border crime information center in the Rio Grande Valley led by local law enforcement with assistance from DPS.
• Requiring law enforcement entities to adopt the National Incident Based Reporting System to ensure the transparency and uniformity of crime data throughout the state.

For more information about House Bill 11, visit this link.