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Interpreting the influence of SB 4

Immigration Issues

Parts of Texas’ Senate Bill 4 remain in effect while immigrant advocacy groups consider their next steps in fighting the law in the courts. However, there are practices that individuals and local agencies can follow to protect immigrant communities without breaking the law — and there are things immigrants should know that can keep them out of jail. These measures were the main topic of discussion at a meeting held at Centro Cultural Hispano de San Marcos on Thursday evening hosted by grassroots organization Mano Amiga. Carolina Carrizales with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center and Priscila Martinez with the Workers Defense Action Fund spoke to the audience about where SB 4 is in the legal system and the steps that are being taken to respond to it. The event also included a supply drive for immigrants staying at a house in Piedras Negras while they wait for a chance to apply for asylum in the United States.

SB 4 became law in May 2017. The law, as originally written, allows police officers to question the immigration status of anyone they suspect could be undocumented, forces local law enforcement agencies to comply with all Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers and prohibits local officials from speaking out against the law or passing any laws or policies that contradict it.

Martinez said that in discussing SB 4, it is important to know the rights that immigrants have — rights that are extended to everyone in the United States, regardless of citizenship. Immigrants have freedom of religion, freedom of speech, the right to due process, the right to fair treatment and equal protection under the law, freedom from illegal searches and seizures, and other protections offered to everyone in the United States. Because SB 4 allows officers to ask for a person’s status — which could lead to racial profiling — and because it requires police to detain people if ICE requests it even if they face no criminal charges, the law interferes with due process, equal protection and the freedom from unlawful search and seizure, Martinez said.

Court rulings and controversies

The day after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the bill into law, Maverick County and the city of El Cenizo filed a lawsuit against the state over it. Numerous other counties and cities joined the lawsuit — San Marcos filed an amicus brief supporting the plaintiffs — and law enforcement officials and organizations spoke out against the bill, saying that it would be a drain on local resources. Later in 2017, a federal judge filed an injunction on the portions of SB 4 requiring cooperation with ICE detainer requests and prohibiting officials from speaking out against the law. However, in March, a threejudge panel in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals made a decision on the injunction and reinstated the requirement to comply with all ICE detainer requests. The panel also decided that only elected officials could speak out against the law — appointees cannot — and no official can adopt a law or policy against SB 4.

Martinez said that the law does have its limitations.

“With or without SB 4, police can’t stop or arrest someone based solely on their immigration status,” she said.

Moreover, she said that law enforcement agencies cannot independently cooperate with federal immigration officials — meaning they cannot conduct their own raids — and law enforcement personnel cannot prolong a stop based on the suspicion of unlawful immigration status. Martinez gave an example of a case in which a police officer approached a group of men working at a construction site and asked for their identification. When they produced IDs issued by the Mexican Consulate, the officer called ICE and kept the men there for two hours to allow ICE to respond.

Next steps

While the American Civil Liberties Union, Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund and other organizations strategize on the best way to fight the law in court, attorneys from around the country have formulated local policies within the framework of SB 4 to protect immigrants.

“We found some creative ways to try to limit, or maybe the best word is mitigate, the effects of this law in our communities,” Carrizales said.

A large part of this effort involves keeping people from incriminating themselves and offering “Know Your Rights” training. For instance, Carrizales said, defendants in court don’t always know that pleading guilty to certain charges will lead to their deportation. Sheriff’s offices are being asked to post “Know Your Rights” information in different languages in their facilities, Carrizales said. Immigrant advocates are also asking that no ICE interviews take place without informed, written consent from individuals and that ICE detainer requests be reviewed by legal counsel before they are honored to make sure they are legitimate. Carrizales said ICE has admitted to detaining U.S. citizens; this would help prevent that.

Carrizales also said that advocates are asking for “Immigration Miranda Rights,” meaning that officers let people know they do not have to answer questions about their immigration status. This policy was part of a package of “Freedom City” resolutions that the Austin City Council approved Thursday night.

Immigrant advocates are asking city councils and police departments to expand cite-and-release practices for low-level offenses. San Marcos Police Chief Chase Stapp, who was present at the SB 4 discussion, said San Marcos already allows cite-and-release for a handful of minor offenses, including graffiti, lower levels of theft and possession of small amounts of marijuana. Advocates also want to see police departments expand the list of acceptable forms of identification. Stapp said San Marcos police will accept IDs issued by the Mexican Consulate -- called matriculas -- and that he would like to create some kind of program or presentation with the consulate to get matriculas to San Marcos residents who qualify for them.

Carrizales said it is also important to highlight the injustices of SB 4 and report incidents of racial profiling.

“What all these (court) decisions leave us with is we have to challenge the constitutionality of SB 4,” she said.

Know Your Rights

Martinez said it is important for immigrants and allies to know their rights in order to stay out of jail and avoid deportation. She said first, people should know that they have the right to remain silent at all times.

“When people are asked questions — ‘Where do you work? Where are you from? Where are you going?’ — you have the right to remain silent for all those questions.”

She also said that if ICE comes to a family’s home banging on the door and saying they have a warrant — or showing the warrant — residents do not have to open the door. ICE officers might say they will break the door down or make other threats.

“This is all not true,” she said. “Do not open the door.”

Often, ICE will show up at a home with an administrative warrant, Martinez said, which is a warrant ICE officials write themselves.

“They need to have a warrant signed by a magistrate,” she said, adding that one of those warrants permits them to kick the door in.

Martinez said if an immigrant is detained, he or she will be ordered to sign papers. She has seen cases where an immigrant has signed his or her own deportation order after being detained without realizing it.

“That’s why I tell people not to sign anything,” she said.

Karen Munoz of Mano Amiga said that the group has set up a hotline to help immigrants know and understand their rights. The number for the hotline, Linea de Defensa, is 512-766-6854.

For more information on Mano Amiga’s efforts, visit https://www.facebook.com/ManoAmigaSM/.

San Marcos Record

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P.O. Box 1109, San Marcos, TX 78666