Texas sued over extreme law targeting undocumented migrants

Austin, Texas - Texas may soon go to court over a new law that allows police to detain and judges to deport migrants who cross the Southern border without documentation.

Texas is facing a new lawsuit after passing a strict new law criminalizing undocumented immigrants.
Texas is facing a new lawsuit after passing a strict new law criminalizing undocumented immigrants.  © JOHN MOORE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of Texas, and Texas Civil Rights Project filed a lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of the Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, American Gateways, and the County of El Paso, arguing that Senate Bill 4 is unconstitutional and breaches federal immigration law.

Republican Governor Greg Abbott signed the bill on Monday after it passed out of both chambers of the state legislature last month.

"Governor Abbott’s efforts to circumvent the federal immigration system and deny people the right to due process is not only unconstitutional, but also dangerously prone to error, and will disproportionately harm Black and Brown people regardless of their immigration status," Anand Balakrishnan, an ACLU senior staff attorney, said in a statement.

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"We’re using every tool at our disposal, including litigation, to stop this egregious law from going into effect."

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Immigrants' rights and racial justice advocates have warned that SB 4 may lead to an increase in racial profiling and expand the prison-industrial complex, even as border communities already suffer rampant violations of their basic rights.

"Time and time again, elected officials in Texas have ignored their constituents and opted for white supremacist rhetoric and mass incarceration instead. The state wastes billions of taxpayer dollars on failed border policies and policing that we could spend on education, better infrastructure, and better health care," said ACLU of Texas Legal Director Adriana Piñon.

"Texans deserve better and we’re holding Texas politicians accountable to make sure this law never goes into effect."

Cover photo: JOHN MOORE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

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