Federal Court Stays Texas SB 4 Law Compelling Local Law Enforcement To Cooperate With ICE

AUSTIN, TX — A federal court on Monday partially upheld most provisions outlined in the state's controversial Senate Bill 4 legislation compelling local law enforcement officials to more forcefully enforce federal immigration laws or face fines and even jail time.

In a 3-0 vote, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit effectively allows Texas to enforce the core provisions of SB 4 while the state appeals a lower court ruling that blocked the law banning so-called "sanctuary cities" from taking effect Sept. 1.

One of the main provisions of SB4 calls for local law enforcement officials to honor "detainers," requested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) compelling local officials to hold detainees suspected of being undocumented for at least 24 hours to give agents ample time to fetch them and ready them for deportation. Officials such as Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez had opted for a more nuanced approach to immigration policy by honoring ICE detainers when undocumented immigrants have felonies in their past rather than mere misdemeanors.

After SB 4's passage, Hernandez altered her policy to meet the more stringent requirements. The sheriff issued a statement reacting to Monday's SB 4 ruling, saying she looks forward to more amplified rulings on the law as a whole rather than its individual components.

"As I have maintained throughout this process, I have not violated federal or state law, nor do I intend," Hernandez said. "Our policy has been updated to comply with the findings of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Contrary to the state’s position, SB4 is neither clear nor simple. The Fifth Circuit and the trial court have both recognized the complexity of the issues, some of which were conceded by the state. I look forward to further clarification from the courts after oral argument in November."

It was that more nuanced and relaxed approach to local immigration policy enforcement (preferred by many other sheriffs and police chiefs, including Austin Police Chief Brian Hanley, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo and others) that sparked Gov. Greg Abbott to launch a fully fledged effort to get SB4 passed into law. Many law enforcement officials are averse to the legislation's more stringent requirements as they are averse to acting as de facto ICE agents in enforcing immigration laws of a federal, not local, jurisdiction.

Long an avid supporter of SB 4, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton applauded the court's preliminary ruling: “We are pleased today’s 5th Circuit ruling will allow Texas to strengthen public safety by implementing the key components of Senate Bill 4. Enforcing immigration law helps prevent dangerous criminals from being released into Texas communities. I am confident Senate Bill 4 will be found constitutional and ultimately upheld.”

Supported and advanced by the majority Republican Texas Legislature, the body passed SB4 earlier this year to compel local law enforcement officials to cooperate with federal immigration officials in cracking down on undocumented immigrants. A U.S. District Court in San Antonio granted a preliminary injunction of SB 4 on Aug. 30, just two days before it was scheduled to take effect.

Others didn't share Paxton's glee over the federal court's ruling. Austin City Council member Greg Casar — a prominent advocate for the immigrant community in Austin — labeled Monday's ruling as "dangerous." Many local law enforcement officials share the view, fearing the erosion of police trust among vulnerable populations increasingly hesitant to report crimes in their communities for fear of having their undocumented status exposed.

“The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a damaging ruling on Senate Bill 4 today, but we cannot be deterred," Casar said. "Loss is both unacceptable and inevitable in our pursuit of justice. But just as those fighting in the civil rights movement didn’t give up when they suffered many losses, neither can we."

Notwithstanding Monday's ruling, the battle against SB 4 will continue, Casar vowed: "Our fight at the Fifth Circuit will continue in November, but I am calling on our local governments in Texas to do more than rely on the court system. The Fifth Circuit’s ruling today allows for dangerous portions of SB 4 to go into effect, but it also allows local governments, like Austin, to take reasonable steps to ensure that our policing resources are not misdirected from our public safety needs and toward Trump’s deportation machine."

Typically diplomatic in conveying opposition to anti-immigrant measures in Texas, Casar labeled Abbott's unwavering support for SB 4 as "racist coercion" in his prepared statement on Monday.

"Every local government and local law enforcement agency can take important steps in the coming days to defy Abbott's racist coercion," Casar said. "We can pass immigrant protection policies that direct our law enforcement agencies to protect our residents' constitutional rights—the rights that we still all have—even under SB 4."

He urged his fellow council members and Austin Mayor Steve Adler to craft local policy aimed at protecting immigrants' civil rights: "I am calling on the mayor and on my council colleagues to join me in passing a policy at the City of Austin that will protect the civil rights of all people—especially immigrants—under the state's dangerous new policing regime. I’ll be asking the Austin City Council to consider these policies as soon as possible.”

State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, who serves as policy chair of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus — the nation's oldest and largest Latino legislative caucus — also expressed his dismay at Monday's development.

“No part of SB 4 should be allowed to take effect before its legality has been affirmed by the courts or the law has been struck down as the trial court deemed likely," Rodriguez said. “SB 4 is unlike any legislation currently on the books in Texas or elsewhere in the nation, and experts have serious reservations regarding its infringement upon the freedom of speech and the right to due process under the law."

Rodriguez called for a more thorough dispensation of the SB 4 law rather than the piecemeal approach being taken by intermittent rulings on its various aspects to allow for focus on more pressing issues: “SB 4 must be disposed of in a timely manner so that the legislature can move on and get to work on the issues that matter to all Texans," Rodriguez said. "If the court allows the state’s delay tactics to succeed, it will further normalize Texas Republicans’ dysfunctional one-party rule and condemn Texas Latinos to living under a cloud of uncertainty and fear.”

Officials at Austin-based Grassroots Leadership, a group that advocates for immigrants, said Monday's ruling calls for more resistance against anti-immigration policies.

"We won’t wait for the courts to tell us what we all know to be true: SB4 is nothing but an attack on immigrant communities," Claudia Muñoz, immigration programs director at Grassroots Leadership, said. "SB4 was never about public safety or good policy. The extremism of the law, like the ridiculous provision to limit local officials free speech rights, is proof of that."

In conveying the law's flaws, Muñoz referenced a recent case involving a young immigrant who had escaped the violence of his native Mexico only to be deported and promptly murdered upon his return by the very criminal gangs he fled. The chain of events leading to the death of Juan Coronilla-Guerrero began when ICE agents tracked his whereabouts to the Travis County Courthouse where he reported to a judge on a matter unrelated to his status.

Related story: Ensnared By ICE In Austin, Deported Immigrant Winds Up Murdered In Mexico

Ultimately, Muñoz predicted, the entirety of the law will be seen as running counter to protections safeguarded by the U.S. Constitution and the ideals espoused by the U.S.: "We do believe that in the end, the courts will rule on all the provisions of SB4 for what they are — racist, unconstitutional, and illegal, but we won’t allow the courts or bills like SB4 to determine how we protect ourselves through local measures as an organized community,” she said.

Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt also reacted to the ruling: "Our highest priority is to protect the lives, safety and dignity of the people who live in Travis County. We are tremendously disappointed that the appellate court forewent the opportunity to weigh in decisively on the questions raised by SB 4 and the court cases against it.

"The partial ruling handed down today exposes our friends and neighbors to additional uncertainty that, in practice, does no party in this case any good. The 5th Circuit has left law enforcement throughout the state in confusion about what it means to “comply with, honor and fulfill” immigration detainer requests. All cities and counties in Texas, whether or not they are parties to this suit, need guidance from the courts about the boundaries between federal immigration policy, state police powers and the local discretion crucial to the day-to-day pursuit of public safety on our streets and in our neighborhoods."

To read the full ruling by the 5th Circuit Court, click here.

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