WASHINGTON — The American Civil Liberties Union today released a new report, Trapped in Texas: How Federal — and Now State — Immigration Enforcement Traps People Trying to Escape Texas’ Abortion Ban, that outlines how federal and state immigration enforcement puts some Texans at risk of deportation as they seek abortion care out of state. The ACLU’s report comes on the heels of the three-year anniversary since Texas Senate Bill 8 took effect, which imposed a six-week abortion ban in Texas. With abortion banned in Texas, with limited exceptions, after the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022, even more people face having to navigate the significant barrier of immigration enforcement checkpoints.
The report details how federal interior checkpoints within 100 miles of the U.S. border, where Border Patrol is permitted to screen vehicles and question passengers, can have a direct impact on people who are undocumented or in mixed-status families when fleeing the abortion ban. The report also details how Operation Lone Star, Governor Greg Abbott’s multi-billion-dollar, anti-immigrant initiative, has exacerbated the chilling effect on Texas residents trying to access care.
“Federal interior checkpoints, state anti-immigrant policing, and extreme abortion bans combine to create an unnecessary, stressful, and dangerous web of barriers to abortion care for people living in border communities,” said Sarah Mehta (she/her), senior border policy counsel at the ACLU. “Faced with these increasingly hostile state actions, the federal government can and should act to remove the danger of immigration enforcement from border residents trying to get to essential care.”
In 2023, Texas had the most residents traveling out of state for an abortion — and in many cases, they are traveling up to 12 hours one way by car, further than anyone else in the country. U.S. Border Patrol operates around 110 interior checkpoints with approximately 19 in Texas alone, stationed on the major — and sometimes only — roads in Texas within 100 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The ACLU has repeatedly called for the elimination of all permanent interior Border Patrol checkpoints and full compliance with the Fourth Amendment at these checkpoints, including requiring reasonable suspicion for all searches or seizures within any defined border zone.
“It is truly astounding how far state leaders have gone to ignore the true needs and priorities of Texans and deny us of our autonomy, especially in our border communities,” said Maria Cordero (she/her), policy strategist for border and immigrants' rights at the ACLU of Texas. “The state wastes literally billions of dollars endangering our lives through lethal anti-immigrant policing and by preventing us from accessing essential health care, like abortion. This is shamefully cruel. Every person in Texas should be able to make the deeply personal decision as to whether, when, and how to have children — no matter our immigration status.”
The ACLU and ACLU of Texas urge the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to ensure that border residents can access essential care, free from fear of immigration enforcement, and calls for more transparency and oversight for checkpoint operations.
The full report, as well as interactive maps of interior checkpoints and driving distance to abortion care by population, are available here: https://www.aclu.org/publications/trapped-in-texas-how-federal-and-now-state-immigration-enforcement-traps-people-trying-to-escape-texas-abortion-ban
