A coalition of civil rights groups filed a new federal lawsuit Monday seeking to halt core provisions of a Texas immigration law that would give state police and magistrates authority historically reserved to the federal government — just days before the law is set to take effect.

The suit, brought by the Texas Civil Rights Project, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, and the national ACLU, targets four specific provisions of Senate Bill 4, the 2023 law passed by the Texas Legislature in response to record border crossings that Republican state leaders argued amounted to an invasion.

The challenged provisions would: create a state-level crime for re-entering the country without authorization, even if a person has since obtained legal immigration status; grant state magistrates authority to order a person’s deportation; create a separate crime for failing to comply with a magistrate’s removal order; and require that magistrates continue a state prosecution even when a person has a pending federal immigration case, such as an asylum claim.

Courts have long held that immigration enforcement is the sole responsibility of the federal government. The lawsuit argues SB 4 violates the U.S. Constitution because federal immigration law should preempt the state statute under the Supremacy Clause.

“Our fight against SB 4 isn’t over until justice wins,” Kate Gibson Kumar of the Texas Civil Rights Project said in a statement. “SB 4 is not only unconstitutional, but a vile law that uses our Texas resources to harm communities across our state.”

The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton did not immediately respond to a request for comment, the Texas Tribune reported.

SB 4 has been tied up in litigation since shortly after its passage. The Biden administration was among the original plaintiffs who challenged the law in 2024, but the Trump administration terminated the Department of Justice’s participation in that lawsuit last year amid its broader immigration crackdown. That case continued until a federal appeals court lifted the injunction that had kept the law on hold, ruling two weeks ago that the remaining plaintiffs did not have standing to sue.

Unless another court intervenes, the law can go into effect May 15.