DALLAS — On any given day you might see a group of migrants bussed in from the border and dropped off at Oak Lawn United Methodist Church in Dallas.
“We serve as a way station to help people get some of the items they might need to continue on their journey. We help them arrange for their travel to get to their sponsor here in the United States and ensure they can safely traverse this kind of last leg of their journey,” said Oak Lawn UMC Senior Pastor Rachel Griffin.
The effort – known as Dallas Responds - is something Rev. Griffin has been a part of since 2018.
“Our work really is to alleviate some of the burden at the border of the just the number of asylum seekers legally seeking asylum in the United States,” she said.
And now their group is one of many pushing back against Texas Senate Bill 4. On Wednesday, the Justice Department announced it was suing Texas over a new law that would allow police to arrest migrants who enter the U.S. illegally.
The lawsuit was filed in Austin.
The new law was set to go into effect on March 5 and is arguably one of the most controversial and strictest immigration laws in the country.
It will allow state police to arrest people they suspect have illegally crossed the border and charge them with a Class B misdemeanor carrying up to 6 months of jail time. Under the law, those charges can be dropped if the migrant agrees to return to Mexico.
The Biden administration gave Texas Governor Greg Abbott a January 3 deadline to back off plans to enforce it, reiterating that border control is the federal government's jurisdiction.
In a post to X Wednesday – the governor signaled he’s up for the challenge.
Saying in part: “Texas holds the line against record-breaking illegal crossings, cartel gang activity, and dangerous human smuggling.”
In an open letter to the governor – Dallas Responds joined other immigration advocacy groups in calling SB 4 an unconstitutional infringement of rights that could result in racial profiling.
“Our concerns are that members of our community can be arrested for just looking Latino and that's a big problem,” said Griffin.
At the border Wednesday, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and about 60 fellow Republicans in Congress toured Eagle Pass, demanding hard-line immigration policies in exchange for backing President Joe Biden’s request to send more funding to Ukraine.
“If President Biden wants a supplemental spending bill focused on national security, it better begin by defending America’s national security,” Johnson said.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says he intends to fight the new lawsuit.
"SB 4 was created to address the endless stream of illegal immigration facilitated by the Biden administration. Millions of unvetted foreign aliens have been released into Texas due to President Biden’s policies of dismantling border security at the US-Mexico border, collaborating with cartels, and inviting violent criminals and drug traffickers to enter the country," a statement from Paxton's office reads. "Just as I am prepared to fight the lawsuit brought by the extremist ACLU and the nonprofits enriching themselves due to the federal government’s open borders doctrine, I am prepared to fight the Biden Administration whose immigration disaster is leading our country to ruin. Texas has the sovereign right to protect our state.”
The back and forth over immigration is at center stage as we head into election season.