Governor Abbott Signed Senate Bill 4 Creating Outrage

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On Monday, December 19, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the controversial bill that allows police to arrest illegal immigrants. Now many groups and people want to challenge the law. 

Senate Bill 4 that was approved last month and caused a lot of uproar well before Governor Abbott signed the law in Brownsville according to AP News. Abbott expects a challenge to the law that goes into effect in March and said according to the New York Times on Tuesday:

“Texas will take this fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.” 

“In his absence, Texas has the constitutional authority to secure our border through historic laws like S.B. 4.” 

The law gives Texas police the authority to arrest and detain illegal immigrants and send them across the border back to Mexico. 

Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security have the authority to arrest and detain migrants. With Governor Abbott signing the law, he gave more authority to local police. 

Now, many plan to challenge the law including Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Lopez Obrador said according to Reuters:

"The foreign ministry is already working on the process to challenge this law.”  

Then on Tuesday, the Texas ACLU filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the new law according to ABC News. Others challenging the law on behalf of the ACLU include the County of El Paso and advocacy groups Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and American Gateways. 

El Paso, which is predominantly a Democratic City, believes the law will result in 8,000 more arrests and cost construction of new jail facilities of $160 million mentioned by the New York Times. 

The Office of the U.S. President Biden also disagreed with the new law. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said according to AP News:

“This is not who we are as a country.”

You can hear more about the law in this video:

Do you think this law will get overturned?