Valeria Tijerina

Senate Bill 4 is a new Texas law that criminalizes illegal immigration and expands state law enforcement officials’ abilities to detain suspected migrants. The law has sparked protests from Mexican-Americans and immigration rights activists.

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the approval of Senate Bill 4 on Wednesday, March 27. This bill would allow Texas police to detain those suspected of illegally crossing the Mexican border.

The senate bill was signed by Greg Abbott in December 2023, and was intended to go into effect in March 2024. However, it was temporarily blocked by a federal appeal on March 19 before the Fifth Circuit Court decided to continue to prohibit its enforcement.

This senate bill would also cause the state to put aside $1.54 billion for the construction of border walls. If a police officer arrested a person suspected of illegally crossing the border, the person could possibly be charged with a Class B misdemeanor, which would lead to six months in jail. When and if the individual were to be convicted, a judge would require the individual to be transported to a port of entry. The judge could drop the charges if the person agreed to return to their home country.

This law was initially met with a lot of backlash by immigrant rights activists, democratic lawmakers, and the Mexican government, which has stated that this bill would violate the human rights of Mexican-Americans living in the U.S and affect the sovereign rights of Mexico.

“My own immigration process was difficult as it is,” said Mexican-American Karina Rivera, who immigrated to the U.S four years ago. “I feel like this bill dehumanizes the immigrants crossing the border or trying to.”

Additionally, in a continuation of the protests sparked by this immigration law, protestors marched against this bill on Monday, March 25 in Dallas.