Texas sued over new immigration law

Fox 4 Dallas ^ | 12/19/2023 | Steven Dial and FOX 4 Staff

[DFG]

The state of Texas is facing a lawsuit over a new law that allows state and local law enforcement to arrest people who enter Texas illegally.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 4 into law in Brownsville on Monday.

"We expect a dramatic drop well over 50%, maybe 75%, of the people coming across the border illegally will stop entering through the State of Texas," Abbott said Monday.

On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the ACLU, and the Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP) filed a lawsuit in an Austin federal court to challenge the bill.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of El Paso County and two immigrant rights organizations, names Texas DPS director Steve McCraw and Bill Hicks, El Paso's district attorney.

The suit asks a judge to declare SB4 is "unlawful in its entirety" and to prevent enforcement of the new law.

"We’re suing to block one of the most extreme anti-immigrant bills in the country," said Adriana Piñon, legal director of the ACLU of Texas.

SB4 creates a state crime for illegal entry from a foreign nation. It would allow state and local law enforcement officers to arrest people who illegally enter, or re-enter, at the border.

The language of the bill says if the migrant is detained they will appear before a judge.

Under the Texas law, migrants ordered to leave would be sent to ports of entry along the border with Mexico, even if they are not Mexican citizens or they could face time in jail.

Dallas County leaders opposed the bill, saying it could lead to overcrowding of jails.

"It opens the door for the potential of biased policing," said Dallas County Sheriff Marian Brown back in November.

[jmacusa]

I’m all for deportation but with these tide of human refuse deportation could get ugly. And bloody.

These cockroaches know it was a one way trip and they’re going to fight like hell not to be sent back.