Mexican Government Comes Out Swinging Against Texas' Anti-Immigrant Legislation

The government of Mexico has added its voice to the ongoing fight against Texas’ SB4 law—the law that targets sanctuary cities and immigrant communities across the state.

In an amicus brief filed October 19 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans, lawyers for the Mexican government argue that the law—certain parts of which were blocked and then temporarily reinstated pending a November appeals hearing—harms Mexico’s overall relationship with Texas, and creates an overly complicated “patchwork” of immigration legislation from state to state.

“While the Mexican government recognizes the sovereign right of each country to determine its domestic policy and legislation, this does not prevent it from exercising its non-renounceable duty to protect the rights of Mexicans abroad,” a statement on the Mexican government’s website explained.

Critics of SB4 have long contended that it creates an effective “papers please” environment across Texas, in which local law enforcement officials will be forced into profiling people on behalf of the federal government. In its statement, the Mexican government agreed, writing:

Laws like SB4 open the door to possible acts of racial profiling; and promote an environment of persecution. For that reason, the Mexican government will continue to follow closely the legal process against SB4.

“The reason immigration law is meant to be federal is because when 50 states pass 50 different laws, this negatively impacts foreign policy in ways that the federal government is unable to control,” Leon Fresco, one of the attorneys representing the Mexican government, explained to McClatchy.