Latino community advocates in East Texas express concerns over bill allowing local police officers to arrest and deport undocumeted immigrants

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) -Immigration legislation, Senate Bill 4 is headed to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk to be signed into law.

Supporters say that authority is needed in Texas, due to federal inaction. However, citizenship teacher for immigrants in Tyler, Paulina Pedroza, shares she is worried about the effects this law would have.

“I work very closely with our immigrant community on a daily basis, and my community is worried about what is going on”

The bill has been a source of controversy around the state and the country recently. The bill would make it a state crime to enter Texas illegally from Mexico, and would allow Texas police officers to arrest and deport anyone they suspect of entering the U.S. illegally.

Longview attorney, Jose Sanchez, explains these authorities are ones that are normally enforced at the federal level, and that a path for this shift in power at a state level is not clear.

“They’re taking the right from the federal government, which has the right under the Constitution to deal with immigration issues or enforcement, and giving it to the state,”

State Senator Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola), a sponsor of this bill, says the standards by which federal officers operate would be maintained by local authorities through SB4 and shares the reasoning behind this shift. He also added the state has set aside $100 million dollars to help assist local police departments carry out new duties if passed.

“We can take those people into custody in a Texas court, not turn them over to the feds, but keep them in the Texas system and hold them accountable for that. "

The bill would also increase the minimum sentence from two years to 10 years for smuggling immigrants into the state. Due to the vague language of the legislation, it’s raised questions on whether family members transporting undocumented family members locally... could also be prosecuted.

Senator Hughes argues this is not the goal of SB4, and arrests would all come down to probable cause.

“The focus of this bill is people crossing the border illegally into the U.S. Obviously, my complexion, my accent, that does not create probable cause. It takes more than that.”

Governor Abbott is expected to sign the bill by the end of the month. The American Civil Liberties Union has already threatened to sue if it’s signed into law.