A federal judge in Texas late Wednesday temporarily blocked key provisions of a state law that banned sanctuary jurisdictions in the state.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who signed the bill in May, said the judge’s preliminary injunction would be appealed « immediately, » and he is confident that the law will be upheld as constitutional.
« Today’s decision makes Texas’ communities less safe, » Abbott said in a statement. « Because of this ruling, gang members and dangerous criminals, like those who have been released by the Travis County Sheriff, will be set free to prey upon our communities. »
But critics of the bill have come out in support of the preliminary injunction.
ACLU, which issued a travel warning in the state after the law was signed, put out a statement from Lee Gelernt, the organization’s deputy director of its Immigrants’ Rights Project: « The court was right to strike down virtually all of this patently unconstitutional law. Senate Bill 4 would have led to rampant discrimination and made communities less safe. That’s why police chiefs and mayors themselves were among its harshest critics — they recognized it would harm, not help, their communities. »
And Efrén C. Olivares, racial and economic justice program director with the Texas Civil Rights Project, said: « Today, Judge Orlando Garcia confirmed what we’ve known to be true all along: SB4 is unconstitutional, threatens public safety, and encourages racial profiling against Texans. »
