Overview
- U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra issued a preliminary injunction Thursday, halting central provisions of SB4 one day before the law’s planned start.
- The order stops Texas from making post-deportation reentry a state crime and from letting state magistrates issue removal orders, which the judge said conflict with federal law.
- SB4 would have let any Texas officer arrest people suspected of crossing from Mexico without permission and would have required state judges to order them sent to Mexico.
- The case reached Ezra after the 5th Circuit tossed a prior challenge on standing in April, prompting civil-rights groups to file a new class action May 4 on behalf of two Honduran immigrants.
- Texas officials say they will appeal, while DPS has not finalized enforcement steps and a state lawyer said arrests would be referred to federal officers, as advocates warn of racial profiling and wrongful arrests of people with lawful or pending status.