ACLU files lawsuit challenging new Texas law that authorizes police to arrest migrants

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The ACLU of Texas filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday challenging the state’s new law that authorizes Texas law enforcement to detain and arrest migrants suspected of crossing the southern border illegally.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the County of El Paso and advocacy groups Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and American Gateways. It names Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, and Bill Hicks, a district attorney for the 34th District of Texas, as defendants.

By creating new state crimes, including one of “illegal entry,” SB 4 allows local and state law enforcement officials to arrest migrants suspected of crossing into the state illegally from Mexico and allows judges to direct migrants to be transported to ports of entry and ordered to return to Mexico, regardless of nationality. The state crime carries a penalty of up to six months in jail for first offenses and up to 20 years for repeat offenders.

The law is the latest attempt by Abbott, a hardline Republican opponent of the Biden administration’s immigration police, to enact and enforce immigration laws.

“President Biden has repeatedly refused to enforce federal immigration laws already on the books and do his job to secure the border,” Abbott said in a statement after the lawsuit was filed Tuesday. “In his absence, Texas has the constitutional authority to secure our border through historic laws like SB 4. Texas will take this fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary to protect Texans from President Biden’s dangerous open border policies.”

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