FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Monday, December 18, 2023 

Media Contact: Anabel Mendoza | amendoza@theyoungcenter.org  

Brownsville, Texas— Today, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is expected to sign SB4 into law. This devastating law would dangerously target immigrants, including children and their families by allowing law enforcement within the state to arrest and criminally charge immigrants for their manner of entry into Texas. Alarmingly this would include children aged 10 to 17. Once signed, SB4 is set to take effect early next year, leaving a critical window of opportunity for the Biden Administration to immediately bring a legal challenge against SB4 before it begins to harm immigrant children and their families. 

Alexis Bay, Health Justice Legal Fellow at the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, said: 

"For months, the Young Center has been sounding the alarm about the deeply disturbing consequences of SB4 and the ways this law will violate children’s rights to safety, family unity, and protection. Already children are facing enormous burdens and barriers in accessing ports of entry along the border to seek safety in the U.S, as well as an asylum ban that expedites the deportation of children and families seeking asylum. Now, Texas seeks to exacerbate these conditions for asylum seekers by targeting anyone who enters the state between ports of entry for possible arrest, deportation, and even permanent separation from their families rather than ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all children. We urge the Biden Administration to immediately intervene and legally challenge SB4 in the courts. Anything short of the federal government’s immediate action to stop SB4 and keep families together is condoning the widescale abuse and harm that will inevitably ensue from this law.” 

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The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights is a non-profit organization that protects and advances the rights and best interests of immigrant children and advocates for an immigration system that treats children as children first. For press inquiries, please contact Anabel Mendoza at amendoza@theyoungcenter.org