County to argue Senate Bill 4 could break 2006 federal court settlement

El Paso County and its defense team are hoping to use a 2006 federal court agreement as a key component in their case against the state over Senate Bill 4.

The county filed its lawsuit Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in San Antonio. The 29-page lawsuit points out that the county is in a unique position because it created a policy prohibiting the enforcement of civil immigration laws.

This all stems from a lawsuit over 11 years ago, where a resident accused sheriffs deputies of conducting immigration checks. The defendant, Carl Starr, said the bus he was on was stopped by deputies, and they asked everyone for their papers.

The County reached an agreement with Starr, where it created a policy prohibiting the enforcement of civil immigration laws.

“This law now would put us directly out of compliance with that settlement agreement,” Stout said. “That’s definitely worrisome to us because Mr. Starr has already stated, he’s already sent emails to our county attorney’s office that he would sue again if we are in fact doing what the settlement says we can’t.”

Senate Bill 4 allows peace officers to inquire about a person’s legal status if they are detained. The County argues that when Senate Bill 4 becomes law on September 1st, it will be in direct violation of this agreement.

“I definitely think that because of the uniqueness of our case, it gives us a strong opportunity, and a very good chance to be able to be successful in this litigation,” Stout said.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton addressed this concern in a letter he wrote to the Senate Committee on State Affairs on February 6th.

He said: “the document was a settlement agreement between the parties, not a judgment ordered by a court.”

“We’ve talked to our attorneys about that and I trust our county attorney more than I trust Ken Paxton,” Stout said. “[Our] interpretation of what’s going on is that we would stand to be out of compliance with this agreement and we would be liable to a lawsuit.”

UTEP Law professor Egbert Zavala said he doesn’t think the county’s argument would hold up in court.

“The judge did not mandate or order the county to enter the agreement with this individual, so it’s not going to hold water,” Zavala said. “If county judge (Veronica) Escobar wants to go forward with this lawsuit, their best defense is to argue that this law is unconstitutional.”