What is Senate Bill 4?
This new law would make it a state crime to cross the Texas-Mexico border between ports of entry. If a police officer has probable cause to believe a person illegally crossed the Rio Grande, that person could be charged with a Class B misdemeanor, which carries a punishment of up to six months in jail. For subsequent offenses, the person could be charged with a second-degree felony and face up to 20 years in prison.
If the migrant is convicted and has served their sentence, a judge would be required to order police to transport them to a port of entry. A judge could drop the charges if a migrant agrees to return to Mexico, and police could turn over migrant families to Border Patrol agents to avoid separating children from their parents instead of arresting them.
Could any undocumented immigrant be arrested?
The bill allows police to question and arrest anyone they believe entered Texas through Mexico illegally and is currently without legal immigration status. However, the author of the law has said it is meant to target people who recently crossed the border, not undocumented immigrants who have been living in Texas for years. Texas’ statute of limitations blocks legal proceedings for misdemeanors two years after an offense has occurred. The statute of limitations is three years for many felonies.
SB 4 prohibits police from arresting migrants in public or private schools; churches and other places of worship; health care facilities; and facilities that provide forensic medical examinations to sexual assault survivors. The bill doesn’t prohibit arrests on college or university campuses.
https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/18/texas-sb-4-immigration-arrest-law/