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 [...]
Florida steps into anti-migrant fray
A bill making its way through the Florida legislature would push the state to the front of the anti-migrant pack if enacted. House Bill 9, titled the Rule of Law Adherence Act, bears the hallmarks of past attempts by other states to make life more difficult for migrants. If approved by the state’s Republican dominated legislature, Florida would rip the anti-migrant spotlight from Texas where its Senate Bill 4 is currently mired in litigation before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Introduced by Republican Larry Metz, Florida’s bill targets so-called sanctuary cities through [...]
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 [...]
Border Patrol shoots, Supreme Court punts
Seven years ago, Border Patrol agent Jesús Mesa shot and killed fifteen-year-old Sergio Adrián Hernández Güereca. On Monday, the Supreme Court refused to tell us whether Hernández’s parents can successfully sue agent Mesa. The aggrieved parents sued Mesa claiming that the officer violated the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution when he killed Hernández. They wanted Mesa to financially pay for violating their son’s constitutional rights, a claim brought under Bivens v. Six Unknown Fed. Narcotics Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (1971), which recognizes an implied right to sue federal [...]
Detainer without probable cause of crime violates 4th Amendment
Adding to the growing caselaw about the constitutional infirmities of immigration detainers, a federal district court in Texas concluded this week that a detainer lacking probable cause of criminal activity violates the Fourth Amendment. Trujillo Santoyo v. United States, No. 5:16-cv-00855-OLG, slip op. (W.D. Tex. June 5, 2017). This case involved an individual arrested on criminal charges that were dismissed without a conviction. While lawfully jailed in the Bexar County Adult Detention Center during the pendency of the criminal case, ICE issued an immigration detainer against Trujillo [...]
With SB 4, Texas faces legal and public safety climb
By Joshua Mitson Since President Trump’s inauguration a wave of “anti-sanctuary city” bills have been proposed by state legislatures across the country. Last Thursday, one of the most extreme variations of these bills was approved by the Texas state legislature and on Sunday, Governor Greg Abbott signed it into law. Senate Bill 4 (SB 4) is, in many ways, a standard anti-sanctuary policy – it compels local law enforcement agencies to honor ICE detainers, it forbids campus peace officers from obstructing local police from inquiring into immigration status of arrestees and compels [...]
Public Safety and the Fourth Amendment Work Together
By Christopher N. Lasch and César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández On Monday, the Colorado Senate is expected to consider a bill to prohibit cities and counties from limiting their role in enforcing federal immigration law. Senate Bill 17-281, the Colorado Citizen Protection Against Sanctuary Policies Act, relies on two fallacies perpetuated by the Trump administration in its campaign against so-called “sanctuary” cities. First, President Trump claims sanctuary jurisdictions endanger the public. S.B. 281 likewise claims that sanctuary policies are “contrary to the safety” of Coloradans. This [...]
ICE’s new immigration detainer policy remains legally flawed
Today, ICE issued a new policy regarding use of immigration detainers. Sometimes called immigration holds, detainers are requests by ICE that a local law enforcement agency continue holding someone in the LEAs custody. The purpose of continued confinement is to give ICE time to pick up the individual. The policy announced today instructs immigration officers, including local police deputized as immigration officers pursuant to a 287(g) agreement, to issue detainers against anyone who they have probable cause to believe is removable from the United States. Though couched in carefully crafted [...]