At least while the lawsuits play out
(Texas Tribune) A panel of three U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals judges ruled Tuesday that most of the state’s immigration enforcement legislation, Senate Bill 4, can remain in effect while the case plays out, handing a victory to Gov. Greg Abbott and Republican supporters of the law.
As passed, Senate Bill 4 allows local law enforcement officers to question the immigration status of people they detain or arrest and punishes local government department heads and elected officials who don’t cooperate with federal immigration “detainers” — requests by agents to turn over immigrants subject to possible deportation — in the form of jail time and penalties that exceed $25,000.
The one part of SB 4 that is still on hold is a provision that punishes local officials from “adopting, enforcing or endorsing†policies that specifically prohibit or limit enforcement of immigration laws. The judges kept that injunction in place, but said it only applies to the word “endorse.†The bill, as passed and signed, would have made elected and appointed officials subject to a fine, jail time and possible removal from office for violating all or parts of the legislation.
So, any who adopt or enforce sanctuary jurisdiction policies can be punished. This has give the ACLU, who was suing, a big sad, because they very much like to protect people who are unlawfully present above lawful U.S. citizens
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, which represents some of the plaintiffs in the SB 4 case, said it was considering how to move forward.
“The court made clear that we remain free to challenge the manner in which the law is implemented, so we will be monitoring the situation on the ground closely,” said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project.
You do that, chumps
The law, one of the most controversial in recent Texas Legislature history…
It’s only controversial to Leftists, who support illegal aliens and illegal immigration. The rest of us find it to be a common sense law protecting Americans over illegals.
