Abbott’s Heavy-Handed Approach to Border Issued Draws the Ire of Advocacy Groups and Texas Counties
For Immediate Release: December 19, 2023
TEXAS – The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and Texas Civil Rights Project are suing the state of Texas to stop a new law that empowers Texas police officers to arrest and detain any person on the suspicion that they are undocumented and have crossed the border illegally. The new law allows for local police forces and judges to oversee federal immigration law, authorizing untrained local judges to order immigrants to return to Mexico.
Senator Roland Gutierrez issued a statement in response to the multiple lawsuits against the racial profiling bill:
“Rogue Governor Greg Abbott has created a police force to harass Latinos and increase the chaos at the border. Senate Bill 4 will result in racial profiling, massive due process violations, and unlawful arrests of citizens and lawful permanent residents. That is the only purpose of this unconstitutional bill, because it sure as hell doesn’t fix our broken immigration system in the first place, this only makes it worse.
“Abbott is telling untrained cops and judges that they are now the arbiters of immigration law, putting all of us in danger. Thank you to the ACLU of Texas and the Texas Civil Rights Project for standing up for the rights of all Texans. I am calling on the Department of Justice to continue investigating the sham that is Operation Lone Star, and I am demanding an immediate end to the cruelty that Greg Abbott has forced upon us at the border and in our state.”
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