Texas Law Regarding Immigration
Known as Texas Senate Bill 4 (2017), Texas has a specific law regarding sanctuary cities and cooperation with federal agencies regarding immigration enforcement within the state of Texas that was put into effect on September 1, 2017.
What it Does:
- Prevent cities and universities from prohibiting (or materially limiting) the police asking about immigration status (no sanctuaries allowed);
- Fine cities and universities that prohibit (or materially limit) the police asking about immigration status;
- Allow the Attorney General to seek to remove an office holder that prohibits (or materially limits) the police asking about immigration status;
- Force authorities to honor immigration (ICE) holds on people in custody;
- Allow officers to ask about nationality or immigration status of a Victim or Witness but only if it is needed to investigate the offense or protect the person assisting law enforcement or if the Victim or Witness may have committed a separate criminal offense;
- Require persons with an ICE hold sentenced to a secure correctional facility to be transferred to Federal Custody to complete the sentence;
- Prohibit the police from considering race, color, religion or national origin while enforcing immigration laws, except as allowed by the U.S. and Texas Constitutions;
(Texas Judges are already required to report the illegal immigration status of anyone convicted or placed on deferred probation)
But It Does Not
Require the police to ask about nationality or immigration status of anyone detained or expand the Texas Failure to Identify law, which requires anyone lawfully detained to give name, address and date of birth to a requesting officer.
Texas also has a related law (Texas Senate Bill 4 (2023)) that makes it a crime for a non-U.S. citizen, without legal status or federally granted lawful presence or asylum, to enter the state directly from a foreign nation by any location other than a lawful port of entry. The first violation is a Class B misdemeanor. Subsequent convictions are State Jail Felonies.
Texas Senate Bill 4 (2023) is currently in federal litigation with a trial date set in July 2025. The law is on hold under a temporary stay granted by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
For more information, contact Student Legal Services.
Page last updated 9:32 AM, February 6, 2025