Mexico celebrates that Texas law SB4 remains frozen

Mexico City. After a new hearing was held in the United States this Wednesday in the legal battle against the Texas anti-immigrant law SB4, Mexican authorities celebrated this same day that the legislation, which they describe as xenophobic, remains frozen.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard this Wednesday in New Orleans the positions of the US federal government and the Texas government regarding whether the anti-immigrant law SB4 should come into force or not, whether partially or completely, while the US justice decides whether the legislation violates the US constitution.

The Court did not announce a decision, so the entry into force of the law remains frozen for the moment.

“#SB4 remains suspended. The @SRE_mx remains firm in the defense of Mexicans against discriminatory laws in Texas and the United States,” said Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena once the hearing concluded.

“Our migrants are NOT criminals. They contribute $324 billion annually to that economy and represent 70 percent of its agricultural workers. “They are not alone!” added the head of Mexican diplomacy on social networks.

The head of the Foreign Ministry for North America, Roberto Velasco, assured that at the hearing “Mexico’s position on the impact on our community and on the bilateral relationship was weighed.”

And the fact is that in the session the “friend of the court” brief (amicus curiae) presented last week to the court of appeals by the Mexican government was taken up, in which it indicates that it is deeply concerned that SB4 is applied in a discriminatory and that its application leads to the undue harassment, detention, expulsion and criminalization of Mexican citizens and people of Latin appearance.

Mexico has also warned that the entry into force of the Texas law will affect bilateral relations with the United States.

The Mexican government, although it is not part of the challenging litigation, has asked the appeals court to keep the entry into force of the Texas law frozen.