A US district judge, based in Austin, has nixed an attempt by Texas to have a law declared as constitutional, which would punish ‘sanctuary cities’, a month before the measure was set to take effect. The law, backed by the Republican Party, is the first of its type since Donald Trump was sworn in as President in January, promising to crack down on undocumented immigrants, the states, and cities that protect them from deportation.
Texas is the biggest state in the US and shares the longest Mexican border. US District Judge, Sam Sparks, dismissed the case without prejudice, and gave no reason for his ruling, on Wednesday. The Senate 4 Bill called for the imprisonment of everyone who refused to cooperate with federal immigration officials, including sheriffs, police chiefs, and frontline officers, while also giving police officers the right to question legal detainees about their immigration status.
The law was approved in May, resulting in Texas suing several major urban areas such as Houston, El Paso, and Austin, as well as a variety of civil rights groups, claiming that they supported policies of non-cooperation.
Ken Paxton, the Republican Attorney General of Texas, says that he is disappointed by the ruling on what is undoubtedly a constitutional law, but the American Civil Liberties Union called the entire suit a farce intended to distract from the harm that would be caused by the SB 4 Bill.