Federal judge blocks key parts of Texas sanctuary cities bill

A federal judge on Wednesday put a temporary halt to key provisions in a proposed Texas state law that would allow for fines and jail time for local officials who didn’t enforce state-mandated immigration-related policies.

In his 94-page ruling, Judge Orlando Garcia of the United States District Court Western District of Texas San Antonio Division said that parts of Senate Bill 4, a sweeping law meant to punish sanctuary cities, would likely fail in court if challenged on federal constitutional grounds.

“The court cannot and does not second guess the Legislature. However, the state may not exercise its authority in a manner that violates the United States Constitution,” Garcia concluded.

Among the bill’s provisions that Garcia cited as problematic is a provision for penalties for local law enforcement officials who didn’t honor voluntary federal immigration requests to detain suspected illegal immigrants for a 48-hour period.

“The Court therefore concludes that Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their claims that the provisions of SB 4 that require local entities to fulfill all ICE detainer requests … facially violate the Fourth Amendment,” Garcia said.

Judge Garcia did allow the bill’s provision to allow local law enforcement officers to ask people detained for traffic stops and minor offenses about their immigration status, but he also those powers couldn’t be abused as an excuse to detain suspects.

“The Fourth Amendment does not permit SB 4 to authorize, and SB 4 does not require local entities to allow, officers to prolong the seizure in order to further investigate the individual's immigration status or to hold them for federal authorities,” Garcia said. “Rather, at the expiration of the time reasonably required to carry out the purposes of the initial stop, the officer is required to release the individual, regardless of whether he suspects or even knows that the individual is undocumented.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement on Wednesday night that he would appeal the temporary injunctions, which block parts of the law from taking effect on Friday.

“Texas has the sovereign authority and responsibility to protect the safety and welfare of its citizens,” Paxton said.