Most of Texas’ SB 4, the nation’s harshest anti-immigrant law, was cleared for implementation this week after a federal appeals court lifted an injunction preventing the law from being enacted while legal challenges proceed.
SB 4 requires police chiefs and sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration officials by honoring ICE detainer requests for deportation (or face $25,000 fines per day, jail time, or removal from office). Multiple federal court cases, however, have ruled that ICE detainers are unconstitutional when they violate immigrants’ due process.
SB 4 allows police, including college campus police, to question the immigration status of anyone they detain or arrest. Educators fear SB 4 will poison the education environment. Routine traffic stops have led to deportation for passengers who were stopped for minor infractions.
Last year, Texas DPS director Steve McCraw changed a policy to require Texas troopers to call Border Patrol or ICE if they suspected someone of being undocumented, even though being undocumented is a civil violation and not a crime. A spike in traffic stops raised concerns about racial profiling and Constitutional violations, which have been grounds for costly lawsuits.
How SB 4 harms public safety
Police chiefs have expressed concern about Texas’ immigration crackdown hurting law enforcement efforts to stop crime, preferring to pursue “crooks not cooks.” The Texas Major Cities Chiefs and the Texas Police Chiefs Association opposed SB 4, saying it would cause mistrust and fear between police and minority communities by driving down cooperation and willingness to report crimes. Last year, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo reported a 43 percent drop in Latinos reporting rape, with other violent crimes registering a 13 percent drop. This was in a year when crimes reported by non-Hispanics increased<