Texas’ immigration law has the potential to revolutionize immigration enforcement across the country if it prevails in court.

By making unlawful immigration into the United States a state crime, Texas contested federal supremacy. The constitutionality of it and whether other states can follow Texas’ example will be determined by the courts. Senate Bill 4, a historic 2023 law that permits Texas police to detain migrants for unlawfully entering the state, was the subject of a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice. State officials contend that the federal government has caused a disaster along the 1,254-mile border by failing to enforce immigration laws. They claim it goes against the Constitution’s requirement that the federal government defend states against invasion. The law is currently on hold while the DOJ lawsuit is being heard in federal courts, but legal experts say that if Texas is successful in defending it, it would lead to two immigration systems: one in Texas and one in the federal government, and it would allow other states to create their own immigration laws.