Friend, there has been a flurry of court rulings over the past week as Texas fights to implement its unconstitutional law, S.B. 4. As a reminder, the United States, the County of El Paso, and two legal services organizations filed suit to stop the law’s implementation.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court allowed the law to go into effect pending the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ consideration of the case, only for the Fifth Circuit to lift its own stay later that evening, allowing the district court’s injunction against the law to be enforced. As a result, S.B. 4 remains blocked – but as these court rulings have shown us, that could change at any moment.

S.B. 4 would set a dangerous precedent for states to subvert federal immigration authority, leading to more chaos and confusion at the border and inviting widespread racial profiling of Black and Brown communities — both immigrants and U.S. citizens alike.

Under S.B. 4, Texas would empower state and local law enforcement to arrest, detain, and potentially deport immigrants suspected of entering or re-entering the country without inspection — even if they have federal permission to be in the U.S.

We recently filed a lawsuit challenging S.B. 4. Our lawsuit was filed on behalf of individuals who would be directly harmed by the law. Here is just some of what’s at stake for them:

• One of the individuals we represent has called Texas home for over 30 years. She is the mother to two U.S. citizen children and holds Temporary Protected Status (TPS). She is currently applying for a green card. However, under S.B. 4, she now faces the very real threat of arrest, detention, and being separated from her family.
• Another client has a pending petition under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), after surviving abuse from a former spouse. Once the VAWA application is approved, he will be eligible to apply for permanent residency. Instead, under S.B. 4, he could face arrest, detention, and deportation.
• A third client is a trans woman who is a survivor of human trafficking. She recently received her green card and is now a lawful permanent resident. Yet, because she was removed from the United States over a decade ago, she nonetheless could face arrest and prosecution under S.B. 4.

As you can tell, the consequences of S.B. 4 would be dire for our clients and for immigrants throughout Texas. We all should have safety, justice, and dignity in this country, which is why we will not stop fighting to defeat this unconstitutional law.

Thank you for supporting our work.

More to come,

Kica Matos
President
National Immigration Law Center