A coalition of left-wing legal groups has filed a new lawsuit seeking to block key provisions of Senate Bill 4, Texas’ landmark border enforcement law, just weeks after a federal appeals court cleared the way for the measure to take effect.
The class-action suit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Texas, and the Texas Civil Rights Project, asks a federal court to issue emergency relief before SB 4 goes into effect on May 15. The plaintiffs are targeting several core provisions of the 2023 law, including the power of Texas magistrates to issue deportation orders and penalties tied to illegal aliens who fail to comply with those orders.
The filing marks the latest attempt to derail one of the strongest state-level immigration enforcement laws in the country. Passed by the Texas Legislature in 2023, SB 4 makes it a state crime to enter Texas illegally from a foreign country outside an official port of entry and gives state and local law enforcement authority to arrest those accused of doing so.
The law had been tied up in court since its passage until the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a district court injunction last month. That ruling did not settle the underlying constitutional issues, but instead found that the original plaintiffs lacked standing, prompting activists to refile with a new legal strategy.
Under the new lawsuit, the left-wing groups are asking the court to stop four provisions from taking effect. Those include magistrate-issued removal orders, criminal penalties for failing to obey those orders, a requirement that prosecutions continue even when a person has a pending federal immigration case, and a reentry provision that they say could apply to some people who later receive lawful status or permission to return to the United States.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick forcefully defended the law, saying SB 4 was one of the few measures he personally wrote. He said the bill gives local law enforcement the right to arrest and detain illegal border crossers and called it an important tool for Texas to secure the border when the federal government refuses to act.
“I’ve always believed it was constitutional and that it would be a model for other border states,” Patrick said in a statement. He also blasted “open-border activists” for continuing to challenge the law and praised President Donald Trump as a strong partner in closing the southern border.
If the plaintiffs do not win emergency relief, SB 4 is expected to take effect May 15, setting up another major legal showdown over Texas’ enforcement of immigration law.
