Relating to the prosecution and punishment of the offense of smuggling of persons.
SB 659 increases penalties for smuggling people into Texas by raising certain cases from a third-degree felony to second- or first-degree felonies. It specifically raises penalties if the smuggling causes serious injury or death, involves children under 18, uses firearms, or involves government resources to facilitate the crime. The bill applies only to offenses committed on or after September 1, 2025, and does not change penalties for past offenses. This directly affects smugglers who meet these aggravating conditions and the courts prosecuting such cases.
Bill status
passed
3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Dec 2024
Committee Review
May 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2025
House Passage
Governor
Introduced Dec 19, 2024
Last action May 19, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison
What changed between versions
Introduced
→
Engrossed
·
4 edits
·
Apr 30, 2025
MODERATE
This bill updates the Texas Penal Code to modernize the definition of human smuggling and aligns the bill text with current formatting standards. The substantive legal content regarding penalties and definitions appears largely unchanged from the original version, with the primary modifications being structural reorganization and removal of outdated metadata.
Scope change
No substantive change to the scope or applicability of the law; the bill continues to address prosecution and punishment of human smuggling offenses under Texas Penal Code sections 20.05(a) and (b).
TECHNICAL
Removed internal document tracking numbers, page headers, and metadata (e.g., 'AASchwertner', 'S.B.ANo.A659', line numbers) that were present in the introduced version but are not part of the final bill text.
Reorganized the bill structure by removing the initial explanatory note about TLO accessibility standards and consolidating the bill text into a cleaner format with proper section numbering.
Standardized formatting of the bill title and sponsor information, changing 'A BILL TO BE ENTITLED' and 'AN ACT' placement to match standard legislative formatting conventions.
Added blank lines and spacing throughout the document to improve readability and formatting consistency in the engrossed version.
Floor votes · Senate Apr 30, 2025
How they voted
26–4
Passed
Total votes 30
Apr 30, 2025
D
Democratic10
60% Yea
R
Republican20
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
28
Key actions
9
Committee
10
May 19, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report sent to Calendars
lower
May 16, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report distributed
lower
May 14, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
lower
May 14, 2025
Lower · Passed
Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
lower
May 2, 2025
Committee
Referred to Homeland Security, Public Safety & Veterans' Affairs
lower
May 2, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
lower
May 1, 2025
Introduced
Received from the Senate
lower
Apr 30, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed
upper
Apr 23, 2025
Upper · Passed
Committee report printed and distributed
upper
Apr 23, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported favorably as substituted
upper
Apr 22, 2025
Upper · Passed
Vote taken in committee
upper
Apr 22, 2025
Upper · Passed
Testimony taken in committee
upper
Feb 3, 2025
Committee
Referred to Criminal Justice
upper
Feb 3, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
upper
2 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
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