Texas Rep. Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler), chairman of the Texas Freedom Caucus in the Texas House, recently wrote that the state must address the ability criminals have to freely cross the the southern border, after it was reported that a murder suspect had been removed from the U.S. four times.

According to a May 1 tweet by Ali Bradley, a network correspondent for News Nation, Francisco Oropesa, a man suspected of fatally shooting five people in Cleveland, Texas, on April 29, was removed from the U.S. four times between 2009 and 2016, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed.

Schaefer is trying to pass a border security bill in Texas that would create a new security force.

"It’s not hard for a criminal like this to cross the border," Schaefer tweeted May 1. "It’s often very easy. Doesn’t have to be. Texas must fundamentally change our approach to border security."

Schaefer introduced House Bill 20, which proposed a Border Protection Unit to strengthen support at the southern border in Texas, KVUE News reported. The unit would be able to "arrest, detain and deter individuals crossing the border illegally, including with the use of non-deadly force.” Members of the unit must be U.S. citizens or have permanent legal residency. Additionally, the bill would make trespassing on private property in Texas a felony.

According to a Fox News report, there were 1.7 million encounters at the border in 2021 and a record 2.3 million in 2022. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said his organization does not have operational control, however. 

"In five of those nine southwest border sectors, we have seen an increase in flow, and that has caused a considerable strain on our resources and really has forced the Border Patrol to move some agents and even migrants to some of the other areas," Ortiz told Fox News, adding that he disagreed with the federal government's halt to border wall construction.