If the courts allow Texas’ sweeping immigration law to take effect, Department of Public Safety troopers will focus on detaining migrants they see crossing the Rio Grande – and will primarily execute the law in counties around the southern border, according to a top DPS official.
Troopers would not inquire about an individual’s immigration status at traffic stops or other interactions farther inland.
Additionally, only adults would be arrested. According to Lt. Chris Olivarez, a spokesman for the agency’s South Region, family units and children will not be charged with any of the offenses defined by the new law, but will instead be turned over to Border Patrol officials.
“This law was not designed for interior enforcement,” Olivarez stated. “This law is designed for border security along the river.” Olivarez’s comments were the DPS’s first clarification on how it intends to execute Senate Bill 4, which allows state and local police personnel to apprehend unauthorized migrants. Texas has urged a federal appeals court to reinstate the statute, which was declared unconstitutional by a U.S. district judge in February.
After stating on Friday that enforcement would be limited to border counties, Olivarez and Ericka Miller, a DPS spokesperson, clarified Monday that the legislation will be enforced statewide.
For example, they stated that if a person is apprehended for a serious offense while in the state illegally, they may be charged with one of the crimes under SB 4.
Individuals smuggled across the border may also face charges if the DPS can prove they illegally entered Texas, according to Olivarez.
Before SB 4, those people would be turned over to Border Patrol authorities.”The bottom line is it can be and probably will be used anywhere where we can prove – the burden of proof is on us – that that person has illegally crossed into the United States,” he added.
The proposal would also give state district judges the authority to order the deportation of unlawful migrants. The United States Justice Department and civil rights organizations oppose the measure, claiming that immigration enforcement is the federal government’s job.
SB4 briefly went into effect last week after the U.S. Supreme Court granted the state permission to execute the law before returning the case to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which stopped SB4 just nine hours later.
The back-and-forth rulings had law enforcement agencies racing for advice on what to do, with some along the border ready to arrest migrants they suspected were breaking the law and others waiting to hear back from the DPS or Gov. Greg Abbott’s office.
According to Olivarez, the DPS did not execute the rule last week. Last week, the appeals court heard oral arguments on whether to continue delaying the law or allow it to go into force while the judges decide whether it is constitutional. Additional oral arguments on the central issue of the case, whether Texas can properly implement SB 4, have been scheduled for April 3.
According to Olivarez, the DPS would be prepared to implement the statute if the federal appeals court granted the state’s request and the governor and attorney general’s office gave their permission. On Monday, Olivarez stated that the DPS would need to speak with other parties, including local prosecutors and other officials, before executing the law.
According to Olivarez, the DPS will be prepared to enforce the law if the state receives approval from the court, the governor, and the state attorney general’s office.
The agency’s plans diverge from those allowed under SB4, which does not restrict enforcement to counties near the US-Mexico border.
The law also did not include protections for minors or family units, even though it prohibits arrests at schools, houses of worship, and facilities that care for survivors of sexual assault.
The DPS’s tighter enforcement plan only applies to state troopers, but the agency intends to provide recommendations to law enforcement agencies throughout Texas on how to best administer the law, according to Olivarez.
“A lot of agencies along the border would seek guidance from us to see how we’re going to enforce it and then be able to apply the same guidance that we have to their agencies,” he added.
Kristin Etter, director of policy and legal services at the Texas Immigration Law Council, stated that the DPS standards do not give her confidence in SB4’s enforcement because such guidelines are subject to change.
“Nothing requires them to stick with that policy,” she went on to say. “It doesn’t give me any peace of mind because policies aren’t permanent and require no change in law and are not binding.”
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