During the fourth special legislative session, the Texas House of Representatives passed two anti-immigrant bills including Senate Bill 4. S.B. 4 authorizes any and all law enforcement to arrest, and judges to order removed, anyone suspected of having entered Texas without papers.

SB4 is an extraordinary attempt by the state to inject itself into immigration and border enforcement, both longstanding federal prerogatives. It will almost certainly trigger a high-stakes legal and political clash with civil rights groups and potentially the Biden administration.