CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A controversial border bill signed into law on Monday by Gov. Greg Abbott is already facing the first of what is expected to be a host of legal challenges.
Senate Bill 4 makes illegal entry into Texas from a foreign nation a state crime -- a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months in jail. The law authorizes both state and local police to arrest anyone suspected of being in Texas illegally and gives state judges the power to return them to Mexico.
The law is scheduled to take effect in March, but at least one lawsuit has already been filed, and there are threats of more to come.
The American Civil Liberties Union joined the Texas Civil Rights Project in filing a lawsuit on Tuesday, saying SB4 should not be implemented because only the federal government has the authority to enforce immigration laws.
“We’re suing to block one of the most extreme anti-immigrant bills in the country,” said ACLU of Texas Legal Director Adriana Piñon. “The bill overrides bedrock constitutional principles and flouts federal immigration law while harming Texans, in particular Brown and Black communities.”
When asked for his take on it, Nueces County Sheriff John Hooper said that he wants to take more time to study the new law.
San Patricio County Sheriff Oscar Rivera tells 3NEWS that this gives his department another tool to use in battling illegal immigration.
He said any concerns about this leading to jail overcrowding are moot.
“We are overcrowded now as it is," he said. "Misdemeanors have been a problem with us, and we actually have people housed in other jails because we are at capacity.”
Rivera said most cases of immigration violations are discovered through routine traffic stops, and his office has no plans to go door-to-door looking for those who may be here illegally.
Immigration attorney Hector Quiroga, CEO of Quiroga Law Office in Spokane, Washington, has been keeping a careful eye on this proposal, particularly as it may relate to other states. He said that there are issues to be addressed and that this lawsuit will give everyone a chance to sort them out.
“There are questions here, but I’m not sure that deputizing with immigration powers state troopers and state patrol is really the answer, because it’s actually going to lead to more issues,” he said. “They’re going to detain more people; they’re going to jail more people.”
If this law stands, it would take effect March 5, 2024.