When the Texas legislature passed Senate Bill 4 on party-line votes, it marked the most extreme immigration measure to make it through a state house since Arizona’s infamous Senate Bill 1070, the so-called “show me your papers” law. Within moments, all eyes turned to the courts. Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit announced that most of the Texas law does not violate the U.S. Constitution. City of El Cenizo v. Texas, No. 17-50762, slip op. (5th Cir. March 13, 2018). As a result, Texas law enforcement agencies and local governments are now blocked from choosing to limit [...]
Texas anti-migrant law largely halted or curtailed
As attention remains focused on Hurricane Harvey’s devastating impact on the Texas Gulf Coast, the state’s controversial immigration law was to go into effect on Friday. Late Wednesday, a San Antonio federal court put that schedule on hold for most of the law. Its “show-me-your-papers” provision, however, can go into limited effect. Senate Bill 4 marks the pinnacle of state Republican elected officials to tie state and local governments to ICE’s immigration enforcement practices. The law authorizes police to ask about immigration status. It requires compliance with immigration detainers [...]
5 Cir: Right to bear arms doesn’t apply to undocumented; 1st, 4th Amend protections might not apply either
A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not apply to undocumented individuals. United States v. Portillo-Muñoz, No. 11-10086, slip op. (5th Cir. June 13, 2011) (Garwood, Garza, and Dennis, J.). Judge Garwood wrote the majority opinion joined fully by Judge Garza. Judge Dennis wrote a separate opinion concurring in part, but dissenting on the majority’s main points. This case involved an individual who admitted to entering the United States without inspection. He lived in Texas for approximately 18 months [...]