More than 200 protesters marched through the street in downtown Dallas on Sunday, calling for an end to SB4.
The controversial Texas immigration law would allow police, sheriff’s deputies, and state troopers to arrest people suspected of crossing into the U.S. illegally.
Organizers of the march said SB4 would pose a threat to migrants and the Hispanic community across the state.
“The unconstitutional law is one of the most extreme pieces of anti-immigrant legislation any state legislature has ever enacted,” said Tony Rodriguez, chair of the Brown Berets of DFW.
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Passed by the Texas state legislature in November, SB4 makes it a misdemeanor state crime to cross into Texas from Mexico illegally, allowing local and state peace officers to arrest suspected illegal immigrants. The law would also mandate that anyone convicted under SB4 be deported to Mexico.
SB4 has been temporarily blocked since Tuesday night while the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals hears arguments in a lawsuit filed by El Paso County and immigrant advocates against the state over the law.
Opponents of SB4 told NBC5 that they believe allowing Texas law enforcement officers to carry out immigration enforcement is unconstitutional.
“Basically, it gives them a free hand to just racially discriminate,” said Xavier Velasquez, President of La Frontera Nos Cruzó. “They can see a brown person and say oh, I think you’re here illegally, and detain you.”
Conservative advocates have said they believe SB4 is necessary to help Texas secure the southern border in the wake of record migration.
“The Texas Department of Public Safety has already arrested more than 40,000 people who have come across the border illegally, and they will continue to use every tool and strategy they can to arrest these people, jail these people crossing the border,” said Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
However, protesters believed the policy would put the Hispanic community in North Texas at risk, and they decided to send a message to leaders in Dallas City Hall and beyond.
“Getting the people out and showing that we’re not happy, and somebody’s going to listen to us,” Velasquez said. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is set to rule soon on whether to block or allow SB4 to take effect. But after that decision, the issue of whether SB4 is constitutional is expected to be taken up by the US Supreme Court.
