FILE - Migrants wait to climb over concertina wire after they crossed the Rio Grande and entered the U.S. from Mexico, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, in Eagle Pass, Texas. Abbott is expected to sign into law sweeping new powers that allow police to arrest migrants who cross the border illegally and gives local judges authority to order them to leave the country. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Civil rights organizations on Tuesday filed a lawsuit challenging a new Texas law that would allow police to arrest migrants who cross the border illegally and permit local judges to order them to leave the country.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Austin, came less than 24 hours after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed the measure during a ceremony on the U.S. border in Brownsville. The law takes effect in March.
The American Civil Liberties Union, their Texas branch, and the Texas Civil Rights Project claim on behalf of El Paso County and two immigrant aid groups that the new law is unconstitutional and preempted by federal law.
The Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw and 34th Judicial District Attorney Bill Hicks, who are listed as defendants, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“The bill overrides bedrock constitutional principles and flouts federal immigration law while harming Texans, in particular Brown and Black communities,” Adriana Piñon, legal director of the ACLU of Texas, said in a statement.
