Texas – Today, after months of youth-led action in Texas to stop the anti-immigrant Senate Bill 4 (SB4) from moving forward, a federal judge in Austin issued a preliminary injunction pausing the bill from taking effect next month. However, Texas has already filed a notice of appeal to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, pursuing all efforts to still get SB4 passed in the state. If passed, the bill would effectively turn every police officer in Texas into an ICE agent and give Texas the authority to deport people. It would also allow Texas officers to target and arrest any individual, which would lead to widespread racial profiling and incarceration of Black and brown people.
Juan Jose Martinez-Guevera, Texas Advocacy Manager of United We Dream Action, said:
“Immigrant youth, people of color, and our allies have made it abundantly clear the type of future we want to build for our communities in Texas: a future where we are all safe, have the freedom to move without being policed, and truly feel at home. SB4 goes against this vision in every way, and would be catastrophic to the safety and well-being of our communities by giving Texas unchecked authority to racially profile our communities, separate families, and carry out mass detention and deportation efforts. United We Dream Action has fought SB4 from the start, driving thousands of calls in opposition to the bill’s racist and unconstitutional motives. While today’s preliminary injunction offers a moment of relief, Governor Abbott and his right-wing allies have already filed a notice of appeal to the 5th Circuit and will continue to try everything in their power to implement SB4. The Biden Administration and our democratic leaders have an urgent responsibility to stop these efforts in their tracks and deliver permanent protections for immigrant communities that ensure our safety and livelihoods are never jeopardized by the bad-faith, racist efforts of Governor Abbott and his allies’ single-minded pursuit to harm us.”
Cynthia Garcia, Co-Organizing Director of United We Dream Action, said:
“For years, Governor Abbott has been pursuing a dangerous effort to build a massive anti-immigrant infrastructure across Texas, which would facilitate mass deportation, bypass the rights of Texan’s, and set up an unstoppable deportation machine for possible future anti-immigrant administrations. From Operation Lone Star and recent plans to build a military base along the border equipped with over 2,000 soldiers to now SB4, Abbott’s main objective has always been to thwart the pro-immigrant future that the vast majority of the public supports. Now Republican leaders in Florida, Arizona, and Kansas have followed suit, taking up their own efforts to replicate similar policies. It is imperative that President Biden leverage his time and power to challenge these extreme, violent policies that go against freedom and justice.”