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Federal judge blocks Texas’ SB4 immigration law that would criminalize migrant crossings
Eagle Pass, Texas — A federal judge in Austin on Thursday blocked Texas state officials from implementing a sweeping immigration law that would have allowed them to arrest, jail and prosecute migrants who cross into the U.S. illegally.
The Justice Department and the American Civil Liberties Union had challenged the law known as SB4, which was set to take effect on Tuesday, March 5.
Crossing into the U.S. outside of a port of entry is already illegal under federal law, but the Texas law would’ve criminalized the action at the state level. It would allow state law enforcement officials to stop and detain anyone suspected of entering Texas unlawfully and empower state judges to issue de facto deportation orders.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed SB4 into law. He has argued it’s needed to deter illegal crossings along his state’s border with Mexico.
But the Biden administration said the state law interferes with federal immigration enforcement. Other critics of the measure have also said it could lead to racial profiling and overwhelm county jails and public safety resources.
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NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.