Civil Rights Groups Sue to Block Texas SB 4

Civil rights organizations filed a class-action lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in Austin, seeking to block Texas Senate Bill 4, a state law set to take effect May 15 that criminalizes illegal entry into the state and authorizes local law enforcement to arrest suspected violators.

The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Texas and Texas Civil Rights Project named the Texas Department of Public Safety and its director as defendants. The suit requests a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against specific provisions, including creating a state crime for reentering Texas illegally even after obtaining legal status, empowering state magistrates to issue deportation orders, criminalizing failure to comply with those orders and requiring prosecutions to continue despite pending federal immigration cases.

The lawsuit follows a recent Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision last week that vacated a lower court injunction blocking the law. That ruling, issued by the full court en banc, found the prior plaintiffs lacked standing and did not address the law's constitutionality. Previous challenges after Gov. Greg Abbott...