Senate Bill 4 (Texas immigration law litigation) — the Texas law allowing state and local police to arrest people suspected of crossing the southern border illegally — has been halted again by a federal judge, just one day before it was set to take effect.
U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra issued a preliminary injunction blocking key provisions of the law, agreeing with arguments from civil rights groups that parts of the statute likely violate the U.S. Constitution. Ezra signaled during a hearing the day before that he viewed the measure as unconstitutional, and his written ruling reinforced that position, stressing that immigration enforcement is a federal—not state—responsibility.
The blocked sections of Senate Bill 4 (Texas immigration law litigation) would have made illegal border crossing a state crime and required magistrates to order convicted individuals to leave the country. The court also paused provisions that critics said could lead to racial profiling and conflict with federal immigration status protections, including for asylum seekers and green card applicants.
Civil rights organizations, including the ACLU of Texas and the Texas Civil Rights Project, praised the ruling, arguing that states cannot override federal immigration authority. They said the law risked widespread constitutional violations.
State officials, including Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office, argued the law mirrored federal immigration statutes and was a necessary response to increased border crossings in 2023. However, the judge rejected that framing, pointing to constitutional limits on state-level immigration enforcement.
The ruling comes after earlier litigation involving Senate Bill 4 (Texas immigration law litigation), where a federal appeals court dismissed a challenge on procedural grounds without ruling on the law’s constitutionality.
Meanwhile, Texas law enforcement agencies continue cooperating with federal authorities through programs like 287(g), which allow local officers to assist in immigration-related enforcement under federal supervision.
