Julián Aguilar | The Texas Newsroom

Allegations brought earlier this year stated Texas Department of Public Safety troopers deprived migrants of water and medical assistance along the state’s border with Mexico. Thursday DPS released a report showing their internal investigation found no wrongdoing.

The legislation comes with a $1.54 billion price tag and also includes funding for more law enforcement in a southeast Texas neighborhood lawmakers said — without evidence — is a haven for crime.

Paxton sued the Biden administration last month after reports of U.S. Border Patrol agents cutting portions of wire along the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas. On Thursday, a judge denied Paxton’s request to halt the practice. Paxton’s office said it has already filed an appeal.

Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 4 into law Tuesday. It will go into effect in February.

The Texas House of Representatives gave its final approval to the measure, Senate Bill 4, on Tuesday night. The chamber also approved a separate measure to add more than $1.5 billion to the state budget for physical barriers on the border with Mexico.

Senate Bill 4 creates a state crime for unauthorized entry into Texas from a foreign country. Opponents say it conflicts with federal immigration law.

A Texas House panel will hear the latest version of a Republican-backed bill to make unauthorized entry into a state crime. A similar bill, one of Gov. Greg Abbott’s priorities, failed in the state’s third special session, which ended earlier this week.

The Texas Senate took no action Sunday on a far-reaching state immigration bill after GOP infighting stalled the proposal. Absent a legislative miracle before Tuesday, the measure will likely be revisited when Gov. Greg Abott calls lawmakers back to Austin for the fourth time.

The panel voted to advance the proposal after it removed two key elements contained in the original language. But opponents argue the bill is still unconstitutional and promotes racial profiling.

The action in the upper chamber followed a committee hearing where the developer of a neighborhood called Colony Ridge, outside Houston, had to push back yet again against claims his property was attracting dangerous immigrants and running rampant with crime.

Monday’s decision is part of lawsuit Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed last week alleging the Biden administration was trying to thwart the state’s efforts to secure its border.

Friday’s action capped a week where Texas continued to test the limits of how far it can go to initiate its own immigration laws.