Stephen A. Smith slams Texas immigration law as ‘a disgrace,’ ‘inhumane’
Sports commentator Stephen A. Smith slammed Texas’s new immigration law in a Tuesday post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“This is a disgrace. It is inhumane,” the ESPN host said.
The post also featured a clip from Tuesday’s “The Stephen A. Smith Show” in which Smith says the new Texas law “opens the floodgate to further divide our nation.” Smith also called the law “racist.”
“It’s a racist-ass thing to do,” Smith said. “Suspicion? Suspect? Suspected of entering the country illegally. How can you be suspected of entering the country illegally?”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed the aforementioned law allowing any of the Lone Star State’s law enforcement to arrest people suspected of coming into the U.S. illegally. After the person suspected of illegal entry is arrested, they will face misdemeanor charges or potentially be made to leave the country.
“The goal of Senate Bill 4 is to stop the tidal wave of illegal entry into Texas. It creates a criminal offense for illegal entry into Texas from a foreign nation for repeat offenders, that creates the events of illegal reentry with a potential prison sentence term of up to 20 years,” Abbott said at the bill signing ceremony.
“The bill provides a mechanism to order an illegal immigrant to return to the foreign nation from which they entered,” he added.
The law also followed an announcement by the Customs and Border Protection agency Sunday that international railway crossing bridges in El Paso and Eagle Pass in Texas will be closed starting Monday amid a recent uptick in migrant smuggling at the border.
Smith also recently knocked Abbott’s Floridian counterpart, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), over his response to Florida State University’s snub from the College Football Playoff.
“Will you stop? First of all sir, don’t you have bigger priorities?” Smith said Wednesday on an episode of the “The Stephen A. Smith Show.” “I mean, you’re down, you’re trailing [former President Trump] by about 59 points in the polls. The man ain’t even show up to debate you because he considers you that insignificant.”
The sport’s commentator’s remarks came after DeSantis said earlier this week that he plans to set aside $1 million from the Sunshine State’s annual budget for possible litigation about Florida State not being included in the playoffs, calling the slight a “really, really poor decision” by the College Football Playoff committee.
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