ACLU To Greg Abbott: See You In Court (Again)

Vowing to stop Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott from enforcing an anti-immigration law that "overrides bedrock constitutional principles" and that has already prompted travel advisories for people planning to visit the Lone Star State, the ACLU led civil rights groups on Tuesday in suing to block Senate Bill 4.

The national group led the ACLU of Texas and the Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP) in challenging the law a day after Abbott signed it, permitting local and state law enforcement officers to arrest and detain people who they suspect of being undocumented immigrants.

Under the law, which is set to go into effect in March unless courts block it, state judges would also be empowered to order a person's deportation even if they were eligible to seek asylum or other protections under federal law.

Texas judges, said the ACLU, "are not trained in immigration law and have no proper authority to enforce it"—just one of the ways in which S.B. 4 is unconstitutional, according to the groups.

"Texas," said the ACLU as it announced the lawsuit, "we'll see you in court."

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