Houston lawmaker says SB4 'nothing to do with papers type of law,' others say it sends bad message

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Senate Bill 4, the law that empowers Texas state and local law enforcement to act as immigration agents, can go into effect for now. That's according to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled on Tuesday that the law can be enforced while its legality plays out in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The White House says the Supreme Court's ruling sows chaos and confusion at the southern border. Gov. Greg Abbott calls it a positive development. The ruling is drawing swift reaction from those on both sides of the argument.

"This is nothing to do with, you know, a 'papers' type of law," Republican State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, who was one of the many co-authors of the bill, told ABC13. "What this is is that if somebody in law enforcement observes an illegal crossing, then they can take action at the border between port points of entry, and that's what I expect will happen with the Texas law enforcement that's involved."

Democratic State Representative Armando Walle emotionally argued against the legislation on the floor of the Texas House during the last legislative session.

SEE ALSO: How Texas' plans to arrest migrants for illegal entry work after SB 4 allowed to take effect

"As a protector of the Constitution, as somebody who vehemently, vehemently opposed this unconstitutional attack on our democracy, it sends a bad message to U.S. citizens of color, particularly in Texas, because now you could open the doors for patchwork immigration laws being implemented in several states," Walle said.

The Texas Department of Public Safety has said it will work to enforce the law between ports of entry. And so we can expect to see it applied along the border. The question remains whether law enforcement not along the border will attempt to enforce it. The move comes a day after the Supreme Court had allowed a stay to remain in place indefinitely.

Constitutional law expert Josh Blackman, from the South Texas College of Law, said the court has given no insight as to how it may eventually rule on the law.

"What the Supreme Court said (Monday) was that we need more time to decide this Texas case, and what the Supreme Court said (Tuesday) is, 'We will allow the text slots going to effect, at least, for now,'" Blackman explained. "Two members of the court justices, Cavanaugh and Barrett, said that maybe when the case comes back to the court later after it's a little bit more developed, we might reach a different conclusion. But we will allow this to go into effect for now. So it's a victory for Texas, to be sure, I think it might be a temporary one. And it doesn't really signal which way the courts are heading when this case comes back up, maybe later this month."

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