Show Me Your Papers

AUSTIN, Texas – The U.S. Supreme Court has yet again overturned precedent and upheld Texas’ anti-immigration bill SB 4 – which has been under scrutiny by the DOJ and immigrant rights advocates since Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed it into law last December.

SB 4 adds improper border entry as a new criminal offense that would place tens of thousands of undocumented Texas residents and migrants in the state criminal justice system. SB 4 will empower the Texas judicial system to deport vulnerable migrants whose only crime is seeking a better life for their families and the American Dream.

Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa issued the following statement:

“Let me be unequivocally clear: MAGA Republicans’ SB 4 isn’t about community safety –it’s about enabling DPS to target neighborhoods and imprison people for the sake of Fox News headlines. This inhumane border strategy will now force American citizens to carry passports in their own neighborhoods and enforce mass deportations of migrant women and children – all while overburdening local law enforcement.

“Right now, Texas Democrats from Austin to Washington are laser-focused on tackling southern border security with evidence-based solutions like the Bipartisan Security Bill and forming a Border Task Force in Congress. The MAGA Republican strategy to turn our southern border communities into a political battleground is cruel, shortsighted and divisive – undermining the very fabric of our country’s fundamental freedoms.”

State Senator Royce West (D-Dallas), also shared his response to the Supreme Court’s decision.

Without question, this legislation carries with it the ability to codify racial profiling by giving law enforcement the proverbial green light to target with impunity, anyone who in their opinion, looks illegal.

SB 4 gives law enforcement the power to arrest a person if they suspect that person is an undocumented immigrant. I ask what are the factors that could amount to reasonable suspicion? Could it be the color of a person’s skin, the language they speak, or the communities where they live or are passing through?

During debate on this bill before the Senate during the fourth special session of the legislature last year, there was robust discussion on what would constitute probable cause to allow an arrest under SB 4. The truth is that what constitutes probable cause is up to each and every individual law enforcement officer in the State of Texas at the time they engage in a traffic stop or other police and citizen interaction.

Let me be clear, SB 4 does NOT provide a mechanism for police to determine reasonable suspicion regarding who is and or who is not here legally. In fact, the majority of those voting in favor of this law voted against clarifying how police could determine probable cause or reasonable suspicion regarding enforcement of this now-enacted law!

Questions remain at every judicial level as to whether SB 4 stands in violation of 14th Amendment equal protection provisions. And of even more glaring constitutional concern is that SB 4 is in direct conflict with the federal government’s jurisdiction over immigration enforcement, consistent with the Supreme Court’s 2012 ruling in Arizona v. United States.

Because this law does not prescribe probable cause or reasonable suspicion for arresting or detaining an individual, persons in this state can be subject to disparate and different policies and practices regarding who is legally allowed to be here.

Enforcement activities may vary by area, from urban, to rural, to the border region.

No one deserves to be treated differently by officers simply because of the color of their skin. Senate Bill 4 sets the stage for law enforcement to unduly view those who are brown through a lens of suspicion.

Texas needs real solutions to address the problems at our southern border, and Senate Bill 4 creates nothing more than a pathway to confusion that could result in the arrest and detention of innocent Texans.