National Organizations Condemn Governor Abbott for Signing Senate Bill 4

Dear Governor Abbott,

We the undersigned faith, labor, civil rights and social justice organizations, which represent a wide cross section of America’s diverse communities, strongly condemn your decision to sign into law the unconstitutional, racist and anti-immigrant Senate Bill 4. As Governor of Texas, your duty is to protect and defend the rights of ALL Texans -- undocumented immigrants are Texans through and through -- but you have clearly failed in doing this.

Senate Bill 4 will discriminate against people of color, separate families, and negatively impact the civil rights and economy of all Texans. You had the power to stop this, but you didn’t, and generations of young Texans will remember this.

SB 4 will institutionalize racial profiling. We know that these anti-immigrant laws that conscript local law enforcement into immigration agents disproportionately impact our Black and Latino working class communities. As a result, under this law, any person that is perceived to be an immigrant -- people of color, anyone with a foreign accent -- stands to be asked for their papers.

SB 4 will separate families and put our children in danger. Studies have shown that children suffer emotionally and physically when they are constantly worried that their parents will be deported. According to a study by Human Impact Partners, thousands of children who had a parent deported in 2012 showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as anxiety, and many were afraid most or all of the time.1 Instead of focusing on school and doing their homework, children will be constantly worried about what could happen to their parents.

Texas will also feel the negative economic consequences of your decision to sign this hate-filled bill into law. 900,000 immigrant workers help to sustain Texas’ economy and just removing the unauthorized workers in Texas today would reduce the state’s gross domestic product by more than $60 billion annually.2 The state of Arizona lost $490 million in tourism revenues in one year due to a nationwide boycott following the enactment of Senate Bill 1070, which was then largely overturned by the United States Supreme Court.3 If SB 4 goes into effect, this will also happen in Texas.

Governor Abbott, your decision to sign this bill into law has created massive resistance against it and we will fight it politically, economically, and legally. We know we will win because we are on the just and moral side.

Sincerely,

The undersigned national organizations: