First lawsuit filed against new Texas illegal border crossing law
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A day after Gov. Greg Abbott signed it into law, a bill that would make illegal border crossings a state crime in Texas is now facing its first legal challenge.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas along with the ACLU and the Texas Civil Rights Project announced they filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging Senate Bill 4 from taking effect. The three plaintiffs bringing the lawsuit include El Paso County, the Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and American Gateway.
In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, Adriana Piñon, the legal director of the ACLU of Texas, said, "We’re suing to block one of the most extreme anti-immigrant bills in the country. The bill overrides bedrock constitutional principles and flouts federal immigration law while harming Texans, in particular Brown and Black communities."
The law — which is set to take effect next year on March 5 — makes it a state crime to enter Texas illegally and gives state and local law enforcement the ability to arrest those who cross between ports of entry. SB 4 will also allow Texas police to effectively deport those who cross illegally through an order obtained by a state judge. Currently, that is a power solely reserved for federal authorities.
The lawsuit argues SB 4 is unconstitutional and would be preempted by federal law. The defendants are listed as Cpl. Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, and El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks.
KXAN is reaching out Tuesday afternoon for comment from the defendants and will update this story once any responses are shared.
At a bill-signing event Monday in Brownsville, the governor addressed a reporter's question about whether this new law could withstand legal scrutiny, specifically the 2012 Supreme Court ruling in the Arizona vs. U.S. case. In their ruling, the justices said the federal government’s immigration laws superseded Arizona’s efforts to regulate immigration at the state level. In that case, the Court halted a law that criminalized being unlawfully present in the United States — very similar to Texas’ Senate Bill 4.
Abbott said he would welcome the Supreme Court overturning this precedent.
“We believe this law has been crafted in a way that can and should be upheld by the courts on its own without having to overturn the Arizona case,” Abbott said. “That said, it does open up the possibility for the Supreme Court to reconsider the Arizona case.”
The plaintiffs filed their lawsuit against the state in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division. It's unclear when a hearing related to this may happen.