Senate committee advances SJR1 after testimony warns it could deny bail to immigrants

The Senate Committee on Criminal Justice on Thursday voted to report Committee Substitute for Senate Joint Resolution 1 to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation after roughly two hours of testimony and questions about due process and state-federal conflicts.

Supporters of the resolution said it would allow judges to deny bail in certain serious cases involving noncitizens; opponents said the language is overbroad, raises constitutional concerns and risks shifting detention costs to Texas taxpayers.

Crystal Gomez, an immigration attorney representing the Texas chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said the resolution’s definition of “illegal alien” is “deeply flawed and overbroad” and could capture people with lawful status, people with pending applications, lawful permanent residents and DACA recipients. Gomez said the resolution also conflicts with the federal Lake and Riley framework, and “hinders ICE’s ability to take custody of the person for immigration enforcement, and it also shifts the financial burden of the costs of detention from the federal government to Texas taxpayers.”

Luis Figueroa, chief of legislative affairs for Every Texan, told the committee immigration status is complex and that magistrates and state judges lack the training to make the fine-grained status determinations the resolution would require. “Visas are not always easy to determine, and the language in the bill says failure to maintain status, which is a very difficult determination,” Figueroa said, urging caution and further review.

An unidentified student commenter also urged the committee to consider due process protections and noted that “the denial of bail for undocumented immigrants goes against those principles and violates the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment.” That speaker called the proposal to categorically deny bail “unjust.”

The committee recorded a roll-call vote on the motion to report the committee substitute. Senator Huffman moved the measure; the clerk recorded six ayes and no nays, and the committee reported Committee Substitute for Senate Joint Resolution 1 to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation.

Why it matters: Witnesses told senators the resolution as drafted could require state judges to make detailed immigration-status determinations and could keep people in Texas criminal custody rather than transfer them to federal immigration custody in some cases. Opponents warned the measure could produce overdetention, catch lawful residents or applicants and increase county and state detention costs.

What’s next: The committee’s favorable report sends the committee substitute to the full Senate for further consideration. The committee did not adopt amendments on the record during the meeting.