Overview
- U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra, who issued the order Thursday, temporarily blocked Texas from enforcing central parts of SB4 one day before the law was set to take effect.
- He halted the new state reentry crime and the power for magistrates to issue removal orders, along with related penalties and prosecutions that would proceed despite pending federal immigration cases.
- The ruling leaves limited room for state and local arrests of suspected recent border crossers, and a state lawyer said officers would bring arrestees to federal immigration agents instead of filing state charges.
- The ACLU and the Texas Civil Rights Project filed the new case on behalf of two immigrants after an appeals court dismissed an earlier challenge for lack of standing, arguing SB4 conflicts with federal authority.
- Texas officials are expected to appeal, and the prospect of shifting rules has police agencies and immigrant communities uncertain about what enforcement, if any, will look like on the ground.