Under new immigration law, DPS planning to arrest only migrants seen crossing Rio Grande

AUSTIN — If the courts allow Texas’ sweeping immigration law to go into effect, Department of Public Safety troopers will arrest only migrants they see crossing the Rio Grande and will limit enforcement to counties along the border, according to a top DPS official.

Troopers would not check an individual’s immigration status during traffic stops or other encounters farther inland.

In addition, only adults would be arrested. Family units and children would not be charged with any of the crimes created by the new law but would instead be handed over to Border Patrol agents, said Lt. Chris Olivarez, a spokesman for the agency’s South Region.

“This law was not designed for interior enforcement,” Olivarez said. “This law is designed for border security along the river.”

Olivarez’s comments provided the first clarification by the DPS about how the state agency plans to enforce Senate Bill 4, which authorizes state and local police officers to arrest undocumented migrants. Texas has asked a federal appeals court to reinstate the law after a U.S. district judge found it to be unconstitutional in February.

The law would also allow state district judges to order unauthorized migrants to be deported. The U.S. Justice Department and civil rights groups oppose the law, arguing that immigration enforcement is the federal government’s responsibility.

Last week, SB4 briefly went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court gave the state permission to enforce the law and sent the matter back to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which blocked SB4 about nine hours later.

The back-and-forth rulings had law enforcement agencies scrambling for advice on what to do, with some along the border ready to arrest migrants who they believed were violating the law and others holding off until they heard back from the DPS or Gov. Greg Abbott’s office.

The DPS did not enforce the law last week, Olivarez said, because the agency did not receive approval from Abbott or the attorney general’s office.

The appeals court heard oral arguments last week on whether to continue blocking the law or let it go back into effect while the judges determine its constitutionality. Additional oral arguments are set for April 3 on the heart of the case — whether Texas can legally enforce SB 4.

The DPS will be ready to enforce the law if the state gets the green light from the court as well as from the governor and state attorney general’s office, Olivarez said.

The agency’s plans differ from what is allowed under SB4, which does not limit enforcement to counties along the U.s.-mexico border.

The law also did not carve out protections for minors or family units, although it prohibits arresting individuals at schools, places of worship and facilities that care for survivors of sexual violence.