Local officials across Texas are anxiously waiting to see whether the state’s harsh new immigration law will take effect — and how it will impact their communities.
The law makes entering Texas outside a port of entry a state crime, punishable in the first instance by up to six months in jail and in subsequent crossings by up to 20 years.
In a dramatic series of rulings on Tuesday, Texas Senate Bill 4, or SB4, briefly went into effect following a Supreme Court decision — only to be stayed again by an eleventh-hour decision Tuesday night.
Now, with the law once again before the highly conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, local officials say they have no idea what will happen next.
“It’s been a complete whiplash for pretty much all local government,” said El Paso County Attorney Bernardo Cruz, one of the plaintiffs in the suit against the state.