In front of a federal judge in San Antonio, supporters and opponents of Senate Bill 4, Texas’ ban on sanctuary cities, presented their cases.
Several local municipalities in Texas, including many city and county officials, asked the judge to grant a preliminary injunction, that would suspend SB4 from taking effect until both sides would be prepared to implement it.
Judge Orlando Garcia is no stranger to immigration enforcement. He recently ruled that the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office violated the Fourth Amendment after an undocumented immigrant was detained for more than two months last year following the dismissal of a misdemeanor charge.
On Monday, Garcia heard arguments from local officials, as well as lawyers representing the state and federal government.
El Paso County Attorney Jo Anne Bernal testified that she was duty-bound to help “all El Paso County residents,” regardless of immigration status. “We don’t pick and choose,” Bernal said in court.
The lawyer representing El Cenizo in the case called SB4 “blatantly unconstitutional,” adding that the language in the bill was “vague.” That was something repeated throughout the day.
The lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, also a plaintiff in the case, stated if the bill was upheld by the court, “we could have SB4s in every state.”
The defense argued that SB4 would do one thing, which was to ensure “uniformity in immigration policy.”
“It is not a ‘show your papers’ law,” one defense attorney said in court. Meanwhile, outside, demonstrators rallied against the passing of the bill, which some said would strike fear into victims of domestic violence and other crimes. Some were worried that they would be detained if they left the house, because of their immigration status.
“We have already seen it put into practice, where folks are now very afraid coming out of their houses or coming out of the buses, or going to work or getting on the streets, and that fear is not good for any of us, whether we’re immigrants or not immigrants,” Rebecca Flores with the Pro-Immigration Coalition said.
“We’re going to fight it tooth and nail all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary,” said Gabriel Rosales of the League of United Latin American Citizens.
The bill’s author, State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, said Friday he was pleased the Department of Justice and Trump administration supported SB4.
“The fact that the feds are taking an active role with it, I think it just recognizes the heart of SB4, you’ve got to cooperate with our federal partners,” Perry said.
Ultimately, Judge Garcia said he would review the request for the injunction, which could drag the lawsuit against the state and feds out for weeks.
Following Garcia’s decision, Marc Rylander, spokesperson for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in part, “the State of Texas asked the court to take the sensible steps of ensuring that State and local officials are permitted— but not required— to inquire about immigration status in appropriate circumstances, and that they are required to honor federal ICE detainer requests. This is lawful and the State feels confident that our arguments will ultimately prevail.”
SB4 is slated to take effect on Sept. 1.
