Friend,
We just filed a lawsuit challenging a new Oklahoma law, HB 4156, which would have devastating consequences for people across the state.
This far-reaching legislation, which is set to go into effect on July 1, 2024, seeks to usurp federal authority and put control of our immigration system into Oklahoma’s hands. Under HB 4156, entire categories of immigrants would be barred from entering the state, or could be ordered to leave, even people who are pursuing asylum or other lawful immigration status.
Along with the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Oklahoma, and Rivas & Associates, we represent Padres Unidos de Tulsa and an Oklahoma resident who came to the United States nearly 20 years ago as a one-year-old. She has resided in the state ever since and her entire family — including her parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and U.S.-citizen siblings — all live nearby. She could be prosecuted and removed from Oklahoma under this new law and separated from her entire family and the only place she has called home.
If these tactics sound familiar to you, it’s because Oklahoma is taking a page from Texas’ anti-immigrant playbook. A little over two months ago, we sued Texas over S.B. 4, a law which would recklessly empower state and local law enforcement to arrest, detain, and potentially deport certain immigrants.
We warned that S.B. 4 would set a dangerous precedent for other states and invite widespread racial profiling of Black and Brown communities across Texas — both immigrants and U.S. citizens alike. As a result of a separate lawsuit, a district court in Texas blocked S.B. 4 from taking effect, but Texas appealed that ruling to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and a decision is pending. Now, our fight continues in Oklahoma.
No matter where you live in the United States, no one should be forced to choose between abandoning their home and facing nonsensical criminal sanctions. This law would be disastrous for all Oklahomans.
Thank you for being a part of this fight with us and for standing alongside people and communities across Texas and Oklahoma, like our plaintiffs, whose lives and homes are here.
More soon,
Nicholas Espíritu
Deputy Legal Director
National Immigration Law Center