PRESIDIO — Last Saturday, the Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR) — an El Paso-based nonprofit with an office in Presidio — hosted an emergency session to update the community on the controversial immigration law SB 4. The law remains temporarily blocked and can’t be enforced by the state, but Executive Director Fernando Garcia booked a last-minute trip to the Big Bend to try to educate as many community members as possible.
SB 4 is currently the subject of a lawsuit between the United States and the state of Texas. The law would make it a state crime to enter the United States illegally — a provision that the Department of Justice argues unconstitutionally disrupts the balance of power between the state and the federal government, which has traditionally enforced immigration law.
The law was originally set to take effect on March 5, but the law was blocked by District Judge David Ezra, who described it as “a slap in the face” to federal immigration policy — but correctly predicted that the case would eventually make it to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Sure enough, the case bounced from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to the Supreme Court, where a series of stays issued by Justice Samuel Alito blocked the law until last Tuesday. In a whiplash-inducing series of events, the Supreme Court ruled to allow the law to take effect — citing sloppy work on the part of the Fifth Circuit — only for it to be blocked again as the lower court rushed to reenter proceedings.
Gov. Greg Abbott initially celebrated the Supreme Court ruling, but the celebration was short-lived. Still, he remained resolute in his commitment to supporting the law. “We continue to redouble and reinforce our efforts,” he tweeted. “Texas will keep taking historic action to protect our state—and our nation—from Biden’s disastrous open border policies.”
About a month ago, BNHR held a protest in Presidio. The organization’s official stance — mirroring that of the ACLU of Texas, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and American Gateways, who are also parties in the lawsuit — is that the law is unconstitutional and unfairly targets Mexican Americans and immigrants from Latin America.
Garcia booked his trip to Presidio to help clear up some of the confusion surrounding the lawsuit and to continue educating as many people as possible about their rights under the law.
One of Garcia’s primary concerns is that SB 4 will be carried out by local law enforcement agencies and court systems that have no experience in immigration law. “They might only get one minute of training,” he said.
He was concerned that that lack of training would lead to racial profiling, especially in counties where law enforcement officers aren’t familiar with working in minority communities. Police can make arrests if they suspect that someone has crossed the border illegally — a suspicion he said won’t extend to white Texans.
Referring to an infamous comment by former President Donald Trump, he said a lot of local police officers and sheriffs have their minds made up about Mexican Americans. “Under the law, we are all criminals and rapists,” he said.
Garcia warned the Presidians in attendance that they could be arrested for human smuggling if they were simply riding in a car with an undocumented person, whether they were aware of that person’s immigration status or not.
He encouraged everyone to study up on their constitutional rights: regardless of immigration status, everyone has the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney. Drivers are not obligated to provide any information beyond license and insurance, and passengers are not legally required to identify themselves or provide immigration documents, Garcia said.
The law will remain blocked at least until April 3, when lawyers for the federal and state governments will head to New Orleans for oral arguments. Until then, Garcia made his opinion on the lawsuit clear. “Texas cannot have its own immigration system — that’s illegal,” he said.