Due to an appeals court ruling, the Texas State Police will now be able to detain and expel from the United States people suspected of being in the country irregularly.
The court allowed the law called SB4 to take effect, which had been approved by the state Legislature in 2023, but was suspended after demands from civil organizations to stop it.
However, SB4 went back into effect, as the court ruled that the human rights organizations that sued it They do not have the procedural right to carry out that action.
This law gives power to state authorities to arrest and detain people who they suspect have committed this crime, and allows judges of the state order the expulsion of migrants to Mexican territory.
The organizations that sued the rule, including the NGOs American Gateways and Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, argued in court that the SB4 law It is illegal because it falls into an area that corresponds exclusively to the federal government.: decide who can or cannot enter the US.
In addition, it interferes with the work of federal authorities and prevents migrants who crossed irregularly from being able to request asylum.
The organizations have also argued that, when it comes into force, this law can encourage local authorities to act in a discriminatory manner against Hispanic communities and ethnic and racial minorities.
Texas passed the SB4 law during the administration of former President Joe Biden (2021-2025), amid a record increase in the number of people crossing the southern border irregularly and a confrontation between Texas and the Democratic Administration.
Now, under the Donald Trump Administration, irregular border crossings have decreased to their lowest point in years, and the Government is embarking on a campaign of mass arrests of immigrants in the interior of the country.
The SB4 law will go into effect at a time when Governor Greg Abbott has pressured the state’s major cities — including Houston, Dallas and Austin — not to limit collaboration between local police and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE), faced with the rejection of citizens to the “iron fist” policies of the Trump Government.