Through a ruling, the federal court for the Western District of Texas temporarily blocked the controversial SB4 law promoted by Governor Greg Abbott.
Several groups defending the rights of undocumented immigrants filed the motion before the court.
What we should know: SB4, which made it a crime to cross the border irregularly, is temporarily blocked, meaning that until the Supreme Court reviews it, it cannot be enforced.
The final decision could be appealed by both sides, and could even go to the U.S. Supreme Court. What does Texas’ SB4 law against immigrants say?
In mid-November, Governor Abbott approved and signed SB4, after it was passed by the state’s Republican-controlled Congress.
SB4 makes it a misdemeanor for an immigrant to “illegally enter or attempt to enter the state from a foreign nation.”
In Brownsville, a border region of Texas, Abbott noted that the goal of SB4 is to “stem the tide of illegal immigrants in Texas.”
Abbott noted that through this law, he expects a 50% to 75% reduction in illegal immigrant entries.
“The drug cartels are not going to want to operate in Texas,” Abbott stated.
Although it had been passed in November and was intended to be implemented in March of this year, Texas authorities began enforcing parts of this law on February 6.
One of the parts of the law that went into effect was the 10-year minimum sentence for those charged with smuggling undocumented immigrants. If the crime is classified as a felony, the minimum prison sentence increases to 15 years or more.