A federal judge on Thursday expressed concern and skepticism over a controversial law that makes entering Texas illegally a state crime while hearing oral arguments over a motion for a preliminary injunction to block the law.
The measure, SB4, which is set to go into effect on March 5, grants local and state law enforcement the power to arrest migrants and state judges the ability to issue orders to remove them to Mexico. The Department of Justice sued the state, arguing the federal government has exclusive authority to enforce immigration law.
US District Judge David Ezra emphasized that he was sympathetic to the state’s concerns about the complicated situation at the border and the issues plaguing the country’s immigration system, making it clear that something must be done to improve the nation’s immigration laws. He also added that he’s served as a federal judge in several cities along the border, including San Diego and Del Rio.
But Ezra was not shy in critiquing the bill passed by the state’s legislature last year and fully embraced by Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. Civil rights groups and immigration advocacy groups who are also part of the lawsuit have warned that the bill will separate families, lead to racial profiling and make undocumented migrants who are already in the US fearful of reporting crimes.
Ezra sharply questioned several provisions within the law and flat out rejected the state’s argument that an “invasion” was taking place at the Texas-Mexico border.
The state argued in the Austin courtroom that SB4 is complementary — not in conflict — with federal law and that Texas is “entitled to defend itself from an invasion,” especially from what it called a “full-scale invasion of transnational criminal cartels.”
While he acknowledged…
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