A group of civil rights organizations on Monday filed a new lawsuit seeking to stop parts of the law that would let Texas police arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
The law can go into effect next week after a federal appeals court a lower court ruling that had kept it paused for years.
Senate Bill 4, as is known, created a state-level crime for entering the country without authorization and created pathways for state authorities to remove such people from the country if convicted.
Courts have long held that immigration enforcement is the sole responsibility of the federal government, but with the state law, Texas Republicans sought to challenge that precedent.
The Texas Civil Rights Project, American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, and ACLU argue in Monday鈥檚 lawsuit the law is unconstitutional because immigration law is exclusively the federal government鈥檚 domain and should preempt the state law.
They are trying to stop four provisions of SB 4: the creation of a crime for re-entering the country without authorization, even if a person has since obtained legal status; granting state magistrates authority to order a person鈥檚 deportation; the creation of a crime for failing to comply with a magistrate鈥檚 order; and requiring that magistrates continue a prosecution even if a person has a pending immigration case such as an asylum claim.
鈥淥ur fight against SB 4 isn鈥檛 over until justice wins,鈥� Kate Gibson Kumar, of the Texas Civil Rights Project, said in a statement. 鈥淪B 4 is not only unconstitutional, but a vile law that uses our Texas resources to harm communities across our state.鈥�
鈥檚 office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit is the latest effort to stop the 2023 law, passed by the Legislature in response to record border crossings that GOP state leaders argued amounted to an invasion.
The Biden administration was among the plaintiffs to initially , but the Trump administration last year the Department of Justice鈥檚 participation in the lawsuit amid his immigration crackdown.
That lawsuit continued until two weeks ago, when a federal appeals court lifted an injunction that had stopped the law when it ruled that the plaintiffs .
The law can go into effect May 15 unless it鈥檚 halted by another court.
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