Texas Civil Rights Project attorney Roberto Lopez testifies at a Senate hearing

AUSTIN, Texas - Civil rights attorney Roberto Lopez does not expect the Biden Administration to come to the aid of immigrants arrested under the sweeping new powers Senate Bill 4 bestows on law enforcement.Lopez, a Rio Grande Valley native, is the beyond borders senior advocacy manager at the Texas Civil Rights Project. TCRP works to defend the civil and human rights of border communities and of those migrating through the borderlands.Lopez spoke about the likely impact SB 4 will have on a recent webinar hosted by America’s Voice and Congressman Joaquin Castro of San Antonio.“Two years ago, we filed a complaint with the Department of Justice. We have continued to provide supplemental complaints on all the abuses that we're documenting. We have several probable cause affidavits that are wrong, where DPS officers said that they knew someone was an alien because of how they smelled. And the federal government has not responded to that. The Biden administration is not going to come to our rescue,” Lopez said.If that is the case, what can immigrant families do? Lopez said he and other civil rights leaders will be there to help."What we're going to be doing now is working with our community, helping ensure that everybody knows their rights, documenting abuses from police as they take on these immense and incredible new powers,” Lopez said.“And we will be fighting tirelessly as these bills come into effect in the next few months to just make sure that everybody knows what this legislation does, how they can respond to law enforcement when they're pulled over. And we will be doing our best to document and fight this in court as best we can.”On the webinar, Lopez gave his analysis of Senate Bill 4.“SB 4 will subject millions of people across the entirety of Texas to racial profiling. And that is not some sort of exaggeration. This bill is not limited to the border. It is not limited to immigrants who have recently crossed (the border). This allows any officer in the entire state of Texas with a gun at their hip, to detain and arrest someone who they suspect of being here without papers.”Lopez said there is no clarity from the authors of the legislation on how it should be applied. He said dozens of amendments were filed to try to clarify the meaning of the legislation, to give officers guidance on how to implement SB 4. “All of those (amendments) were just swept aside,” Lopez said. Lopez said what this tells Texans is that the state is not making good public policy. “This is all political theater.”Editor's Note: Go to the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service to read the full story. Editor's Note: Here is an audio recording of testimony Roberto Lopez gave at a recent Senate Committee on Border Security hearing.Go to www.riograndeguardian.com to read the latest border news stories and watch the latest news videos.