BREAKING: Texas Communities Challenge Racist Anti-Immigrant Law, S.B. 4

For Immediate Release: December 19, 2023

Media Contact: media@las-americas.org

BREAKING: Texas Communities Challenge Racist Anti-Immigrant Law, S.B. 4

TEXAS — Today, we joined forces with American Gateways, El Paso County, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), American Civil Liberties Union of Texas (ACLU-TX), and Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP) and sued the State of Texas for the lawlessness and unconstitutionality of Senate Bill 4 (S.B. 4).

Jennifer Babaie, Director of Advocacy and Legal Services of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, in El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico and New Mexico, said:

“Texas’ S.B. 4 uses the cover of state law to make a hateful and unlawful assault on the U.S. Constitution, one that threatens the rights and wellbeing of all Texans. This law is intolerable. We refuse to let it stand. As persons living and working in immigrant communities, as Texans who value our rights and those of our neighbors, it is our duty, and our honor to challenge S.B. 4 in court and call out its blatant racism.

“The people and communities that this law targets are strong, resilient, and will defend themselves and their rights. We are proud to represent them in court. We urge the federal government to join us in suing Texas to defend our communities, our civil rights, and the constitution. We demand the Department of Justice intervene quickly. Any delay abdicates our immigration laws, encourages lawlessness, and subjects our communities to racism and our wellbeing to cowardice.”