Texas SB 4 Is the Last Tool Left When Washington Abandons the Border

What Is SB 4 and Where Does It Stand?

Texas Senate Bill 4, passed by the legislature in 2023, makes illegal entry from Mexico a state crime, authorizes state peace officers to arrest suspects, and requires state magistrates to order removal to Mexico upon conviction. On May 14, 2026, U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra issued a 78-page order blocking four provisions but leaving the illegal-entry arrest power intact.

The en banc Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals had vacated an earlier preliminary injunction on April 24 in a 10-7 decision, ruling that the nonprofit groups and El Paso County lacked standing to sue. That cleared the way for the law to take effect. The May 14 ruling then blocked the reentry crime, the power of magistrates to issue deportation orders, the crime of failing to comply with those orders, and the requirement that state courts continue prosecutions even when a federal immigration case is pending. The illegal-entry provision took effect on May 15.

This is not the final word. The Texas Attorney General's office will appeal. The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas, and the Texas Civil Rights Project brought the class action and have vowed to keep fighting. But for now, Texas peace officers can arrest individuals suspected of crossing the border illegally, even if the broader removal mechanism remains tied up in court.

Why the State Has the Right to Act

When the federal government refuses to enforce immigration laws, states retain the sovereign authority to protect their residents from cross-border crime and the public costs of uncontrolled migration. The Constitution does not require Texas to stand idle while drug cartels and human smugglers operate with impunity along its 1,200-mile frontier.

The Supreme Court's 2012 decision in Arizona v. United States limits how far states can go on their own, but it does not forbid state law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. Texas has already moved in that direction. Senate Bill 8, which took effect January 1, 2026, requires county sheriffs who operate jails to enter 287(g) agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Those agreements let trained local officers perform immigration functions under federal supervision.

The cartels do not care about federal jurisdiction. They care about revenue. Last year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized tons of methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl along the southwest border, much of it moving through Texas corridors that state troopers now patrol. A governor who ignores a flood of illegal crossings is not showing compassion. He is failing his first duty, which is to the safety of the people who elected him.

The Results on the Ground Are Real

Operation Lone Star has led to more than 531,700 illegal immigrant apprehensions, more than 51,800 criminal arrests, and over 44,100 felony charges since its launch in March 2021, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Texas law enforcement has also seized more than 637 million lethal doses of fentanyl, enough to kill every American several times over.

The program has cost Texas roughly $11 billion since 2021, a figure the legislature has repeatedly cited in resolutions urging Congress to reimburse the state. Governor Greg Abbott's border wall project has completed 34 miles of a planned 100 miles, at a reported cost of $25 million per mile. At that price the wall is expensive, but it is a fraction of what the federal government spends on programs that subsidize lawlessness. The price is steep. So is the cost of doing nothing.

Contrast that with the alternative. Under the prior administration, Border Patrol encountered more than two million illegal crossers in fiscal year 2022 and again in fiscal year 2023. Record flows strained local hospitals, schools, and shelters. Texans paid the bill in higher taxes, crowded classrooms, and overloaded emergency rooms. The state acted because Washington would not.

What Happens If Texas Backs Down?

If Texas withdraws its troopers, removes the concertina wire, and stops arresting illegal entrants, the cartels will simply move people and drugs north in greater numbers, just as they did under the Biden administration's policies. The rest of the country would pay the price in fentanyl deaths, strained schools, and suppressed wages.

The May 2026 ruling from Judge Ezra will be appealed, and the Supreme Court may eventually have to settle whether a state can mirror federal immigration law in this way. Until then, every other border state should watch Texas closely. Arizona, New Mexico, and California face the same pressures. They should copy what works.

Washington can end this fight tomorrow by doing its job. Build the wall. Detain and deport. End catch and release. Restore the Remain in Mexico policy. Until then, Texas has every right to keep its peace officers on the line. The citizens of Texas are not the aggressors. They are the last line of defense.