The ACLU of Texas and the Texas Civil Rights Project have asked a federal judge in Austin to block Texas from implementing a new law that makes unauthorized entry a state crime.
The request for an injunction comes weeks after the same groups filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the immigration enforcement law, which Gov. Greg Abbott signed last month.
Senate Bill 4, which is scheduled to take effect March 5, gives local and state law enforcement the authority to arrest and detain someone suspected of entering Texas without authorization. First offenders could be charged with a Class B misdemeanor while those with multiple illegal entry violations could be charged with a second-degree felony and up to 20 years in prison.
The law also allows a local or magistrate judge to order the person deported to Mexico. Opponents have pointed out these judges aren’t trained in immigration law and that the law will eliminate a person’s right to due process.
In a statement, Adriana Piñon, the legal director of ACLU of Texas, said the law would tear apart communities.
“Families may be separated, more people may live in fear of law enforcement, and migrants may have a harder time fully integrating in our communities,” Piñon said. “This plainly unconstitutional law should never have been passed, so now we are seeking to stop its enforcement while the litigation unfolds.”
The other groups involved in the legal fight are Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, American Gateways and El Paso County.
Edna Yang, co-executive director of American Gateways in Austin, said the law would make communities less safe.
“It is discriminatory and unconstitutional, and we can’t let it take effect,” Yang said. “Even now, there is confusion and fear about state and local officials acting as federal immigration officials. S.B. 4 is political theater that should be stopped before it ever starts.”
Gov. Greg Abbott has defended the law saying the federal government hasn't done enough to protect the border.
Others say the impact of the law is already being felt even though it isn't currently in effect. Robert Heyman, strategic advisor with Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso, said people are scared and have good reason to be.
"Living here at the border in El Paso, you have DPS constantly acting very aggressively on the roads, pursuing people in high-speed chase, pulling over families at gun point, [families] staring down the barrel of a rifle," Heyman said. "This is just another escalation of that, another escalation of the state of Texas questioning whether brown people have the right to be here."
The law will make it difficult for anyone who's simply trying to live their life, he added.
State civil rights groups aren’t the only ones trying to stop the law from taking effect. Earlier this month, the Department of Justice sued Texas stating it violated the U.S. Constitution, which grants “the federal government the authority to regulate immigration and manage our international borders.”
Meanwhile, immigrant advocates around the state have been holding "know you rights" workshops to help the public learn what to do if stopped or questioned by law enforcement.
Got a tip? Email Stella M. Chávez at schavez@kera.org. You can follow Stella on Twitter @stellamchavez.
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