Case Overview

In March 2024, the National Immigration Law Center and co-counsel Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund filed a lawsuit challenging Texas S.B.4 as unconstitutional. In this case, we represent four individuals who are directly impacted by the law, and our partner MALDEF represents LUPE, a border-based community organization, and its members.

In the United States, the federal government has the authority to regulate immigration and S.B. 4 attempts to usurp that authority in several ways:

• It creates a system of state criminal penalties based on how someone entered the country, which go so far as to make it a deportable offense for someone to be in Texas, even if they have already adjusted their status or are in the active process of doing so.
• It empowers Texas courts to functionally order the deportation of certain immigrants present in the state.
• It deputizes local and state law enforcement to arrest and detain individuals suspected of being unlawfully present in the state.

Our clients, as well as some LUPE members, have available pathways or pending immigration applications with the federal government that could lead to permanent lawful status and citizenship. Even so, under Texas’ new law, these individuals could face criminal penalties and possible removal from their families, lives, and the state they know to be home.

S.B. 4 was first challenged in December 2023 by two non-profit organizations that provide services to immigrants, followed by the U.S. Government in January 2024. S.B. 4 is currently enjoined from taking effect, though Texas has appealed that decision. LUPE v. Texas is the only case brought on behalf of individuals directly impacted by the law.