Border & Immigration

Texas law enforcement braces for SB4 law in wake of appeals court hearing

KERA | By Megan Cardona

Published March 21, 2024 at 5:14 PM CDT

FILE - A guardsman checks a vehicle at the gate for Shelby Park, which troops from the Texas National Guard seized and began turning away federal immigration authorities, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas.

Hours before a federal appeals court stopped Senate Bill 4 from going into effect, local police departments across the state were already preparing for how to deal with the Texas law — which would make crossing the Texas-Mexico border without authorization a state crime.

SB 4 allows Texas judges to deport a person in lieu of criminal proceedings and local law enforcement to ask people about their immigration status.

But the law has already led to confusion and raises questions about how SB 4 will be enforced by police. In North Texas, Fort Worth Chief of Police Neil Noakes said the department’s day-to-day commitment to serve every member of the community would not change with the passing of Senate Bill 4.

“Although we will always follow the law, the primary responsibility for immigration enforcement and border protection should be left to our federal and state partners,” he said. “In light of the vibrant growth of our city and the diversity of our communities, our department remains unwavering in its commitment to community policing and making Fort Worth the safest city in the country for all who call this community home.”

Hours later, Fort Worth police issued a follow-up statement saying the department, “will ALWAYS enforce the law.”

The bill has sparked fears of racial profiling — specifically, concerns that it will give a license to discriminate against residents who look like they’re from Central or South America.

With a Hispanic and Latino population of around 40%, that could impact a good portion of the state’s residents.

Brandon Rottinghaus, a political scientist at University of Houston, said the state’s demographics could make it hard to enforce.

“That's the real kind of conundrum that law enforcement has, where they don't know how to police this precisely,” he said.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is joined by fellow governors during a news conference along the Rio Grande to discuss Operation Lone Star and border concerns, Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas. Abbott returned to the Eagle Pass border to highlight his escalating attempts to curb illegal crossings on the U.S.-Mexico border. He was joined by more than a dozen other GOP governors, all of whom have cheered on his extraordinary showdown with the Biden administration over immigration enforcement.

During an interview with CNN, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo called the bill extreme.

“You could imagine a scenario where Lina Hidalgo – is Hispanic, looks Hispanic – goes for a run somewhere,” she said. “What stops local police from saying, ‘You look like you might be here on an undocumented basis, let me deport you’?”

Although Rep. Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler, said Senate Bill 4 was designed for the Texas border and not for enforcement further in the state, that is not how the bill is written, Rottinghaus said.

“The law is broad enough that you could do this in Amarillo or in Lufkin, and it's the availability and, really, responsibility of local governments to comply,” Rottinghaus said. “And so that's a burden on law enforcement that a lot of law enforcement has been reluctant to take on.”

In the hours between the U.S. Supreme Court allowing Senate Bill 4 to go into effect and when the federal appeals court blocked it again, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office announced plans to create a policy outlining how officers could enforce the law.

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar disagreed with the law but said his office would be prepared to handle it, if necessary, Texas Public Radio reported.

“We may not be allowed to tell you, 'you can't enforce a law,' right? That's not what we're saying,” Salazar said. “What we are saying, though, is 'if you choose to do it, you're assuming some liability for yourself. You're putting this agency in a whole lot of liability’.”

The San Antonio Police Department had no plans to substantially change its policy but planned to comply with Senate Bill 4.

Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn said Senate Bill 4 allows Texas to do “what the federal government won’t.”

However, he said it was unlikely it would apply to North Texas.

“SB 4 is a tool for Texas law enforcement along the border to detain anyone they see crossing into the country illegally,” he said in a statement. “It is unlikely that law enforcement in North Texas will have knowledge of an individual’s illegal entry status to enforce SB 4, due to this being primarily an on-view offense.”

The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Wednesday on whether Senate Bill 4 should go into effect.

It was still blocked as of Thursday.

Enforcement of SB 4 could also come down to resources, which police and sheriffs have raised concerns about since its passage. In a statement, El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said the legal battle itself "exemplifies the complexities of this issue."

"While the City of El Paso will always follow state law, it is no secret that our Police Department is short staffed," Leeser said. "Our law enforcement responses are always priority-driven, and our number one priority has and will continue to be public health and safety, not enforcing immigration law.”

Got a tip? Email Megan Cardona at mcardona@kera.org.

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