AUSTIN, Texas – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court has yet again overturned precedent and upheld Texas’ anti-immigration bill SB 4 – which has been under scrutiny by the DOJ and immigrant rights advocates since Greg Abbott signed it into law last December.
Background:
SB 4 adds improper border entry as a new criminal offense that would place tens of thousands of undocumented Texas residents and migrants in the state criminal justice system. SB 4 will empower the Texas judicial system to deport vulnerable migrants whose only crime is seeking a better life for their families and the American Dream.
Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa issued the following statement:
“Let me be unequivocally clear: MAGA Republicans’ SB 4 isn’t about community safety – it’s about enabling DPS to target neighborhoods and imprison people for the sake of Fox News headlines. This inhumane border strategy will now force American citizens to carry passports in their own neighborhoods and enforce mass deportations of migrant women and children – all while overburdening local law enforcement. Right now, Texas Democrats from Austin to Washington are laser-focused on tackling southern border security with evidence-based solutions like the Bipartisan Security Bill and forming a Border Task Force in Congress. The MAGA Republican strategy to turn our southern border communities into a political battleground is cruel, shortsighted and divisive – undermining the very fabric of our country’s fundamental freedoms.”