09/13/2026
AN OPEN LETTER TO TEXAS LEADERS: IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT DOES NOT OVERRIDE THE CONSTITUTION
To the elected officials entrusted with representing our communities:
The image before us should demand more than political talking points. It should demand scrutiny, accountability, and an unequivocal commitment to constitutional government.
A photograph alone cannot establish the legal circumstances surrounding this particular detention. It cannot tell us whether officers possessed a warrant, probable cause, or some other lawful authority. But it illustrates a larger concern that our elected officials have an obligation to address: no person should be treated as presumptively undocumented, criminal, or subject to detention because they are brown, Latino, speak Spanish, or appear to be of a particular national origin.
The Constitution does not cease to operate when immigration laws are enforced. The Fourth Amendment restricts unreasonable searches and seizures. The Fifth Amendment protects “persons” through due process of law. Government agents exercising the extraordinary power to detain another human being must remain subject to constitutional limitations, lawful authority, oversight, and accountability.
We are particularly concerned when masked government agents exercise coercive authority in public while their identities and the basis for their actions may not be readily apparent to the communities witnessing them. Enforcement without meaningful transparency risks replacing public confidence with fear—especially in communities where American citizens, lawful permanent residents, visa holders, and undocumented immigrants may share the same ethnicity, language, and appearance.
History has repeatedly demonstrated what can happen when governments allow ethnicity or ancestry to become shorthand for suspicion. That is why comparisons to history should serve as a warning, not as a claim that every present-day enforcement action is equivalent to the atrocities committed by regimes such as N**i Germany. The relevant lesson is more fundamental: a free society cannot permit an entire class of people to become presumptively suspect because of who they are or what they look like.
Governor, Mayor, Representatives, and Senators: we are asking you to publicly defend these principles. Demand transparency regarding immigration-enforcement operations in our communities. Demand accountability when constitutional boundaries are crossed. Demand that detention be based upon lawful individualized grounds—not racial or ethnic appearance. And ensure that citizens and noncitizens alike have meaningful avenues to challenge unlawful government action.
This is not a demand that immigration law go unenforced. It is a demand that the government itself obey the law while enforcing it.
Due process is not a partisan privilege. Constitutional protections are not reserved for people of a particular complexion. Government accountability is not anti-law-enforcement.
The rule of law means nothing if it binds the people but not the government.
Governor Greg Abbott. Mayor Omar Ochoa. Senator Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa. Representative Terry Canales. Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz. Senator John Cornyn. Senator Ted Cruz. Our South Texas communities deserve an answer: What are you doing to ensure that immigration enforcement in the Rio Grande Valley respects due process, constitutional rights, and the rights of American citizens and lawful residents?
