Texas’ SB4 illustrates why immigration a federal issue

Texas’ controversial immigration law, Senate Bill 4, took effect for nine hours this past week. It was nine hours too many.

While no arrests were made under SB 4, its momentary implementation revealed many significant flaws and underscored why immigration is a federal issue.

During arguments Wednesday before a panel with the conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, Texas Solicitor General Aaron Nielson characterized SB 4 as a “modest but important statute.”

“It’s modest because it mirrors federal law,” Nielsen argued. “It’s important because it helps address what even the president has called a border crisis.”

We can think of many words to describe SB 4 — draconian, controversial, problematic, flawed — but modest would never be on that list.

SB 4 is a legislative descendant of Arizona’s SB 1070, the so-called “show me your papers” law, which opened the door to racial profiling. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down much of that law in 2012, asserting immigration is the purview of the federal government. But it’s a new court, and SB 4 is designed to push on this question.

Upending immigration law precedent and federal authority is hardly modest.

As with Arizona’s SB 1070, Texas’ SB 4 also invites racial profiling. Senate Bill 4 creates a new state crime, “illegal entry,” a misdemeanor with a sentence of up to six months in jail. A judge could also offer a defendant the option of returning to Mexico in place of prosecution. Subsequent offenses could result in up to 20 years in prison. Short of seeing a person cross the Texas-Mexico border, how would local law enforcement cred

ibly accuse a person of illegal entry? This is the invitation to racial profiling, and it raises major liability concerns for law enforcement.

But other concerns exist. Does it make sense for different states to have different responses to suspected illegal immigration?

At Wednesday’s hearing, Priscilla Richman, the chief judge on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, raised a number of compelling hypothetical questions. What if a person entered the country illegally in Arizona and eventually comes to Texas? What about those people hoping to make asylum claims?

Senate Bill 4 is a deeply problematic law, and the best outcome would be for the nation’s courts to reaffirm that immigration enforcement belongs with the federal government.

John Moore/Getty Images Immigrants cross the border in Arizona in 2023. Under Senate Bill 4, what happens if they move to Texas?