Texas Attorney General files appeal to fully enforce SB 4

AUSTIN (KVIA) -- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton requested a stay pending appeal to ensure Senate Bill 4 is fully in effect, he announced Friday.

SB 4 would allow Texas state and local police to arrest people suspected of being in the country illegally.

ABC-7 previously reported that some civil rights groups and non profits filed a lawsuit to stop SB 4. The law’s prohibitions criminalizing illegal entry remain fully in effect.

Attorney General Paxton said his appeal aims to uphold the remaining portions of SB 4.

“Under Texas law, SB 4 criminalizes illegal entry and that portion of the law remains fully in effect," Paxton said in part in a statement. "Texas has the right to defend its border. I will never stop fighting for that right."