El Paso DA not anticipating large number of SB 4 immigration cases in Borderland

El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks says concerns about SB 4, if it becomes law, are "overblown" and he doesn't expect the controversial Texas law to have a massive impact on the El Paso and West Texas border.

Any arrest made, Hicks said, would be adjudicated using "prosecutorial discretion."

"The concerns that have been expressed over (SB 4) cases in my jurisdiction in the 34th Judicial District, I honestly believe are very overblown," he said during a news conference on March 22. "I do not anticipate seeing very many of these cases."

Hicks, who oversees the 34th Judicial District which includes El Paso, Hudspeth and Culberson counties, has talked to law enforcement in all three counties to discuss how his office will prosecute case involving arrests made under SB 4 — a law that would give Texas law enforcement broad authority to arrest and detain anyone suspected of entering the country illegally.

"I do not believe that we will see very many of these cases, if any, here in El Paso County," Hicks said. "After talking with the sheriffs in Hudspeth and Culberson counties, I don't believe we're going to see very many of these cases, if any, in either of those two counties.

"That's just not the way our law enforcement is structured. That's not the way our law enforcement is set up. We just do not see very many cases of people coming across the border into Texas in this type of situation and we just don't see an appetite from our law enforcement to try to enforce aspects of this law."

El Paso County and two immigrant rights organizations — locally-based Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and Austin-based American Gateways — filed a lawsuit against SB 4 late last year. A month later the Justice Department filed a lawsuit as well against SB 4. The lawsuits have been combined.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the law could go into effect March 19 and sent the case back to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. However, the implementation of the immigration law is on hold as of Friday afternoon as arguments continued on it in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals . A date on when a ruling will be made is unknown.

Will SB 4 cases be prosecuted in El Paso, Hudspeth and Culberson?

If the law goes into effect, Hick said he will use "prosecutorial discretion" on which cases his office will move forward with.

"The law is the law, and it has to be enforced," Hicks said. "Once an arrest is made, only at that point can I then exercise prosecutorial discretion on a case-by-case basis for what we will or will not actually prosecute ... I cannot control a law enforcement agency. So any law enforcement agency has the ability to develop probable cause and make an arrest.

"That being said, my office has the ultimate say so on what cases are going to be prosecuted in Hudspeth, El Paso and Culberson counties."

Under Gov. Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star, which spread into El Paso after Mayor Oscar Lesser issued a state of emergency in 2022 because of an increase in migrants arriving at the border, state troopers have aggressively pursued migrants at the border.

Texas National Guard soldiers and DPS troopers have used razor wire placed on U.S. territory to keep migrants from moving further north to surrender to Border Patrol agents to seek immigration relief processing.

Opponents of the law and even some El Paso law enforcement officials are warned that large number of arrests could overwhelm county jail space. Others worry that the new law will lead to race profiling — placing an extra government burden on those who live at the border.

Cases where the migrants were racially profiled or had their civil liberties violated will not be prosecuted, Hicks said.

"We're very conscious of any kind of allegations of profiling," Hicks said. "We're very conscious of any kind of allegations of civil liberty violations, and we are very zealously guarding individuals' civil liberties and individuals' rights regarding their fourth amendment rights to be protected against illegal searches and seizures."

More: As Texas SB 4 law debate rages, El Paso law enforcement stuck in the middle

The main focus for his Hicks will remain on prosecuting violent crimes, driving while intoxicated and other criminal cases involving victims, he said.

"Our office is short staffed and we don't have a lot of resources to spend on prosecuting cases that don't involve acts of violence, that don't involve DWI or that don't involve a direct impact to the citizens of our community.," Hicks said. "We will evaluate every case on a case-by-case basis that comes to us. But as it stands right now, (SB 4) is on hold, even if it were to be in place, I still don't anticipate very many of these cases right now."

More: SB 4 again put on hold as 5th Circuit Court schedules Wednesday hearing on how to proceed

When it comes to immigration-related case, the DA's office is targeting human smuggling cases, Hicks said.

"We know that females are being trafficked," he said. "The smuggling cases have also led to stash house discoveries. We are seeing increasingly large numbers of firearms being recovered, and we are also seeing females who have been sexually trafficked. Our focus remains on the smuggling cases."

What will the cost of enforcing SB 4 be on the DA's Office and El Paso County Jail?

In a confrontation with Texas National Guard soldiers Thursday, March 21 , more than 425 migrants breached razor wire barriers to reach the border wall, Hicks said. One person was arrested for assaulting a national guardsman.

He used Thursdays incident to highlight the impact SB 4 could have on El Paso County Jail resources. Arresting the 425 migrants who breached the concertina wire would cause major issues at the El Paso County Jail and Jail Annex as the facilities cannot hold large amounts of inmates , Hicks said.

"We are also very cognizant of the limited resources that El Paso County has to book people in our county jail," Hicks said. "Our county jail is very full at the moment. Of course, according to jail standards, we can't be completely full. So there is room in our county jail. So if a person does commit a violent offense, you can make sure that they will be booked in the county jail. But somebody who is not committing a violent offense, there just is not a lot of room to book (those) people into our county jail. We don't have a lot of resources."

The El Paso District Attorney's Office has been approved by the Texas governor's office for a $1.1 million grant to help prosecute any SB 4 cases. The money will be used to hire a senior prosecutor, a paralegal, a victim advocate, and an investigator, Hicks said. The funds will also be used for other resources needed by the district attorney's office "from a vehicle to computers and everything else," he said.

"We are still working with the governor's office and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to set up other resources that the county will be able to utilize to further enable us to prosecute these cases, as well as the smuggling cases, which will take some of the financial burden off of El Paso County taxpayers," Hicks said.

If Hicks' prediction that SB 4 will not make up a lot of cases in the El Paso area, the state's $1.1 million grant should be enough to cover SB 4 cases.

More: Hundreds of migrants breach razor wire barrier in El Paso as Texas SB 4 remains in limbo

"Based on what I anticipate being a reality for prosecution under SB 4, I think between our existing programs and the additional $1.1 million, we'll be able to handle the prosecution of what we anticipate happening with SB 4," Hicks said.

El Paso community members should not worry about SB 4 cases hindering prosecutors from handling other El Paso criminal cases, Hicks said.

"Absolutely not," Hicks said. "If your case is currently pending or there are additional new cases coming, our office is more than prepared to handle those cases. We're not going to shortchange the rest of El Paso and the victims' cases in El Paso because of SB 4. That will not happen."

Aaron Martinez may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on Twitter @AMartinezEPT .

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso DA not anticipating large number of SB 4 immigration cases in Borderland