The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Austin, came less than 24 hours after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed the measure during a ceremony on the U.S. border in Brownsville. The law takes effect in March.
The American Civil Liberties Union, its Texas branch, and the Texas Civil Rights Project claim on behalf of El Paso County and two immigrant aid groups that the new law is unconstitutional and preempted by federal law.
The Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw and 34th Judicial District Attorney Bill Hicks, who are listed as defendants, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“The bill overrides bedrock constitutional principles and flouts federal immigration law while harming Texans, in particular Brown and Black communities,” Adriana Piñon, legal director of the ACLU of Texas, said in a statement.
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Immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility. But the law that Abbott signed allows any Texas law enforcement officer to arrest people who are suspected of entering the country illegally. Once in custody, they could either agree to a Texas judge’s order to leave the U.S. or be prosecuted on misdemeanor charges of illegal entry. Migrants who don’t leave could face arrest again under more serious felony charges.
Opponents have called the measure the most dramatic attempt by a state to police immigration since a 2010 Arizona law — denounced by critics as the “Show Me Your Papers” bill — that was largely struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Texas Republicans say President Joe Biden’s administration isn’t doing enough to control the 1,950-mile (3,149-kilometer) southern border. In other efforts that have challenged the federal government’s authority on the issue, Texas has bused more than 65,000 migrants to cities across America since August 2022 and recently installed razor wire along the banks of the Rio Grande, which has snagged and injured some asylum-seekers.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Austin, came less than 24 hours after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed the measure during a ceremony on the U.S. border in Brownsville. The law takes effect in March.
The American Civil Liberties Union, its Texas branch, and the Texas Civil Rights Project claim on behalf of El Paso County and two immigrant aid groups that the new law is unconstitutional and preempted by federal law.
The Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw and 34th Judicial District Attorney Bill Hicks, who are listed as defendants, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“The bill overrides bedrock constitutional principles and flouts federal immigration law while harming Texans, in particular Brown and Black communities,” Adriana Piñon, legal director of the ACLU of Texas, said in a statement.
Political Cartoons
Immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility. But the law that Abbott signed allows any Texas law enforcement officer to arrest people who are suspected of entering the country illegally. Once in custody, they could either agree to a Texas judge’s order to leave the U.S. or be prosecuted on misdemeanor charges of illegal entry. Migrants who don’t leave could face arrest again under more serious felony charges.
Opponents have called the measure the most dramatic attempt by a state to police immigration since a 2010 Arizona law — denounced by critics as the “Show Me Your Papers” bill — that was largely struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Texas Republicans say President Joe Biden’s administration isn’t doing enough to control the 1,950-mile (3,149-kilometer) southern border. In other efforts that have challenged the federal government’s authority on the issue, Texas has bused more than 65,000 migrants to cities across America since August 2022 and recently installed razor wire along the banks of the Rio Grande, which has snagged and injured some asylum-seekers.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A lawsuit has been filed in federal court in Austin challenging a new Texas law that allows law enforcement officers to arrest individuals suspected of entering the country illegally. The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), its Texas branch, and the Texas Civil Rights Project on behalf of El Paso County and two immigrant aid groups. They argue that the law is unconstitutional and preempted by federal law. The Texas Department of Public Safety Director and the 34th Judicial District Attorney, who are listed as defendants, have not yet responded to the lawsuit. The ACLU of Texas legal director stated that the law overrides constitutional principles and violates federal immigration law while disproportionately harming Brown and Black communities. The new law is set to take effect in March. Opponents of the law have compared it to a 2010 Arizona law that was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. Texas Republicans argue that the Biden administration is not doing enough to control the southern border and have taken other measures, such as busing migrants to cities across America and installing razor wire along the banks of the Rio Grande.
