Texas Civil Rights Project Sues To Prevent Anti-Immigrant SB4 From Taking Effect

AUSTIN, TX — Officials of a leading civil rights organization filed a lawsuit on Monday to challenge the recently passed Senate Bill 4 ostensibly crafted as an immigrant crackdown that seeks to end so-called "sanctuary cities."

The Texas Civil Rights Project has sued to stop the recently passed law from taking effect Sept. 1. Signed into law two weeks ago, the measure allows police to inquire about people's citizenship status during stops and calls for imposing hefty fines and possible jail time for law enforcement officials deemed not cooperating strongly enough with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to ensnare undocumented immigrants.

Critics decry the measure—legislation that Gov. Greg Abbott made an "emergency item" of his administration—as a discriminatory that promotes racial or ethnic profiling, calling it nothing more than a "show me your papers" law. The Texas Civil Rights Project sued as part of its legal representation of the Texas Organizing Project Education Fund (TOPEF), which is joined as a plaintiff in the suit El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles. El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar staged a press conference on Monday announcing the lawsuit:

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in San Antonio, plaintiffs challenge SB4 on a number of grounds. Notably, by permitting local officers to demand “papers” from virtually any person in Texas at any time, plaintiffs argue that SB4 invites racial profiling, officials said.

"History and logic supports that all Texans will not be equally subject to this harassment: Texans of Latino heritage and immigrants and their families, particularly those from Mexico, Central America and other Spanish-speaking countries, will be targeted," officials said in a press advisory.

Plaintiffs also argue that the measure unlawfully impedes efforts of local law enforcement, including by mandating potentially unconstitutional immigration detainers and removing democratically elected representatives from office should they fail to comply with provisions that are vaguely defined, officials said.

"Before the law was signed, the 'show me your papers' law already faced stiff resistance from the immigrant community, domestic violence and family advocacy groups, as well as by Texas sheriffs and police chiefs who argue that the law breeds distrust in law enforcement and endangers public safety," Texas Civil Rights Project officials said. "At its core, SB4 is an attempt to turn all Texas cities, counties, and university police departments into immigration officers."

Efrén C. Olivares, the Racial & Economic Justice Director with the Texas Civil Rights Project, said residents should be allowed to live without the fear of being targeted under state sanction.

“All Texans, regardless of their immigration status, deserve to live free of harassment and discrimination," Olivares said. "The 'show me your papers' law targets communities that have been attacked by both the state and federal governments already, further upending the lives of immigrant families throughout Texas.”

Olivares pointed to the many successful legal challenges to laws deemed discriminatory in the past, vowing to fight SB4 with the same vigor: “For over a quarter-century, TCRP has successfully challenged discriminatory laws targeting immigrant communities in Texas. SB4 is no different. Working together with our grassroots partners and legal allies, we will challenge this law in and out of the courts. This attack on human dignity will not stand.”

Michelle Tremillo, executive director of the Texas Organizing Project Education Fund, explained why her group decided to pursue the litigation: “We’ve joined this lawsuit because SB4 would be destructive and hurtful, not only to the people of color who will be subject to codified racial profiling, but to the state’s economy and safety. It seems everyone in this state, except the white men who voted for SB4, is aware that nothing good will come from this law."

The lawsuit names Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton among the defendants. To read the full lawsuit, click here.

The day after Abbott signed the SB4 into law (choosing the incongruous forum of Facebook Live sans ceremony to do so on a Sunday night two weeks ago), Paxton filed his own lawsuit against would-be litigants as something of a preemptive strike seemingly aimed at deterring legal challenge by asserting what the "constitutionality" of the Republican-championed measure. Paxton's lawsuit targeted Travis County, the city of Austin and county Sheriff Sally Hernandez, all seen by Abbott and his administration as being too soft on immigration enforcement.

For his part, Abbott has been firing back at critics of the law of late by categorizing their expressed concerns as "fear mongering" and not a careful reading of his new law.

“My message to the Hispanic community is don’t fall for all of the fearmongering that’s going on,” Abbott told a reporter with the Univision affiliate in Austin. “If you look at the details of Senate Bill 4, it does not pose any concern for anybody who’s not a criminal. If you’re a criminal and you’ve done something wrong, yes, whether you’re here legally or illegally, you’ve got something to be concerned about. If not, you’ve got nothing to be concerned about.”

Critics have assailed that response and the governor's interpretation of his own law. Asked by Patch about Abbott's recent comments accusing critics of "fear-mongering," Austin City Council member Delia Garza challenged the governor's assertions.

"I don't understand on the one hand how the governor can say this is fear mongering and we should not be worried when there was ample opportunity to make this bill less hateful," Austin City Council member Delia Garza said. Several amendments were introduced during the process of crafting a final bill allowing for more safeguards against targeting certain segments of the population, but all were rejected, Garza said. "I am a fourth-generation American but the fact is I may be subject to a different level of scrutiny should I get pulled over because of my brown skin. This is not Nazi Germany; this is the U.S.A."

The Texas Civil Rights Project's lawsuit is the latest SB4-0pposed litigation to emerge in recent days. In a 10-1 vote this past Thursday, the Austin City Council voted to challenge SB4 in court for alleged violations of the U.S. Constitution. Austin joins the city of El Cenizo in El Paso County and the county seat of El Paso in challenging the new law. Officials in the cities of Dallas and San Antonio also are scheduled to discuss taking similar action this week.

“When my colleagues and I took our oath of office to serve on the Austin city council, we vowed to ‘protect, preserve, and defend the constitution of the United States,' " Austin City Council member Greg Casar said. "That includes fighting unconstitutional mandates by Gov. Greg Abbott himself. This summer, my colleagues on the Austin City Council, and in many other counties and cities across this state have committed to rejecting anti-immigrant coercion by our state leaders. I hope that our vote today inspires more cities and counties across the Lone Star State to draw a line in the sand and defend the rights of all of our community members.”

>>> Image via Shutterstock