SB4 in undeniably unconstitutional: Mario Carrillo

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has claimed that Texas is under “invasion” by immigrants to justify his defiance and disregard for federal supremacy over control of immigration into our country.

Though fellow Republicans have embraced that same language, courts and scholars disagree. Abbott’s signature law was struck down by U.S. Federal District Court Judge David Ezra in February. In his ruling finding Texas SB 4 unconstitutional, Ezra wrote, “Surges in immigration do not constitute an ‘invasion’ within the meaning of the Constitution, nor is Texas engaging in war by enforcing SB 4.” That view was also laid out by law professor Frank Bowman, who  wrote, “The bottom line is that nothing now occurring at the U.S. southern border remotely amounts to an ‘invasion’ as that term is used in any portion of the Constitution. However, the claim by a distressing number of Republicans in federal and state government that there is such an “invasion” is profoundly dangerous.” It is very dangerous.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which stayed the Texas law and did not accept the “invasion” arguments, held its hearing on the merits of the law in New Orleans. During this hearing, Texas Solicitor General Aaron Nielson, while defending SB4, seemed to suggest that Texas maybe went “too far” in crafting SB4.

Advocates made clear what is at stake if SB4 was to go into effect. “We hope that the judges will listen to the legal precedent that no state, no governor can usurp federal powers, and in this case enforce immigration laws. Not only is SB4 racist, it is illegal and unconstitutional,” said executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights Fernando Garcia.

More: El Paso DA not anticipating large number of SB 4 immigration cases in Borderland

At America’s Voice, we have tracked the increasingly dangerous language used, particularly around the use of “invasion.” It’s critical to understand that the use of “invasion” is directly tied to the Great Replacement Theory, a white nationalist conspiracy theory that espouses a belief that “elites,” or “globalists,” are facilitating an invasion of non-white immigrants into the U.S. to reduce white Americans’ cultural, demographic, and electoral power. The attacks mostly come from Republicans who assert falsely that Democrats are trying to let undocumented immigrants rig elections for them.

These Republicans ignore the real-life violence their rhetoric inspires. Like in August 2019 when a gunman committed a massacre at a WalMart in El Paso, killing 23 people as, according to his screed, a “response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”

Through SB4, Texas is seeking to usher in a new and dangerous era of state anti-immigrant policy and now multiple states, including Iowa, Florida, Louisiana and Alabama have crafted their own versions of the bill. These bills undercut the federal government’s supremacy on immigration law and invite chaos by essentially allowing 50 states to each implement their own immigration systems.

The Texas SB4 law and the “invasion” justification violate the Constitution, would sow chaos throughout the state and, as El Paso knows too well, rely on a conspiracy theory that is flat-out dangerous.

Mario Carrillo is campaigns director at America’s Voice.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Texas SB4 in undeniably unconstitutional: Mario Carrillo