Texas Senate Bill 4 makes it a Class A misdemeanor for local officials as well as public colleges and universities to refuse to work with the federal government on immigration enforcement.

[2][3] In Texas, no city had formally declared "sanctuary" status, but a few did not fully cooperate with federal immigration authorities and drew a negative response from the legislature.

[4] Bills seeking to deprive state funding from police departments and municipalities that do not cooperate with federal authorities had been introduced into the Texas Legislature several times.

[10][11] On August 30, 2017, Judge Orlando Luis Garcia of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas blocked certain sections of Senate Bill 4 from going into effect, including the part requiring local officials to honor federal detainers.

[14] March 13, 2018, the Fifth Circuit again ruled that most of the law, except for a portion punishing officials who "endorse" sanctuary city policies, could go into effect while the case was pending.