City of El Cenizo, Texas v. Texas

The Texas state government (Texas) (defendant) enacted Senate Bill 4 (SB4). SB4 prohibited local entities from adopting, enforcing, or endorsing policies or practices that prohibited or materially limited immigration enforcement. Examples of activities that local entities could not prohibit or materially limit included (1) inquiring into the immigration status of lawfully detained individuals, (2) sharing immigration-status information with federal agents, and (3) assisting or cooperating with federal immigration officers as reasonable or necessary. Local law-enforcement agencies were also required to comply with the detainer requests of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unless detained persons showed proof of United States citizenship or lawful immigration status. ICE detainers were written requests sent to state or local officials asking them to notify the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) if an alien was detained and to maintain custody of the alien beyond a preexisting release date to allow the DHS to assume custody. Several city and county governments (local governments) (plaintiffs) filed suit against Texas, claiming that (1) SB4 was preempted by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), (2) the endorsement provision violated the First Amendment, and (3) the detainer mandate violated the Fourth Amendment. The district court granted a preliminary injunction to stop SB4’s enforcement, and Texas appealed to the Fifth Circuit.