Texas Extends Block on SB4 Immigration Law: Senate Bill 4, which the Texas legislature approved in 2017, would permit state law enforcement to detain and arrest migrants attempting to cross the US-Mexico border. The courts have blocked the legislation since its enactment, with Supreme Court Samuel Alito granting an additional extension until Monday, March 18 for the implementation of SB4.
Eligibility for March 2024 SNAP Benefits in Texas: Who Qualifies for This Month Payment?
UPDATE: Alito extends the administrative stay in the Texas SB4 case until 5p Monday — meaning the law will remain on hold during that time. https://t.co/a0P9VWEGev pic.twitter.com/hY3xUreYRg
— Chris “Law Dork” Geidner (@chrisgeidner) March 12, 2024
Describe SB4.
Conservative Justice Alito upheld Judge David Ezra’s injunction from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Judge Ezra disagreed with Texas officials’ statement that the law prevented migrant “invasion.”. He also claimed that the measure violated the nation’s fundamental charter, something the White House denies.
SB4 is an extreme bill that would allow local and state law enforcement to arrest, detain, and deport people they suspect to have entered Texas without federal authorization.
While this is good news, we need to get rid of this law, permanently. https://t.co/t5JjaqrBCZ
— ACLU (@ACLU) March 12, 2024
The law is scheduled to go into effect on Tuesday, February 6th. The mandatory minimum punishment for smuggling unauthorized immigrants was ten years. If the court sentences the offense as a first-degree felony and another law applies, the minimum jail sentence is 15 years. Convicted of hiding immigrants in safe houses, or “stash houses,” must serve five years in prison.
In a catastrophe zone, incremental sanctions would increase to the maximum severity of the next category of violations. The proposal also expands criminal sanctions to include contraband-related victim offenses.
Authorities may sentence family members transporting contraband to five years under “third degree of consanguinity” or “affinity.” Judge Ezra issued the injunction because Texas’s broad contraband definition entails a 10-year prison penalty for even taking a family member to the doctor.
The Supreme Court is currently examining the legislation’s constitutionality, so it may issue the injunction as early as late May.
Deadline for Texas SNAP Benefits Recertification in March 2024 to Avoid Benefit Loss
