Two harmful bills, Senate Bill 8 and House Bill 5580, are moving through the Texas Legislature. If passed, these bills would require sheriffs in counties with populations over 100,000 to request and accept agreements with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that authorize local officers to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in carrying out federal immigration enforcement. These agreements would effectively turn local law enforcement into federal immigration agents, diverting resources away from true public safety and toward family separation and mass deportations.
Take Action: Call Your Representative
Taxpayer dollars should not be used to tear families apart, detain immigrant children and parents in harmful conditions, or deport long-standing community members. CDF-TX urges all Texans to contact their state representatives and demand they protect children and families by voting NO on H.B. 5580 and S.B. 8.
Why We Oppose SB 8 and HB 5580
House Bill 5580 is the companion to Senate Bill 8, which passed the Texas Senate on April 1 and is now under consideration in the House. CDF-Texas (CDF-TX) strongly opposes both bills because:
- They jeopardize children’s basic rights to freedom, safety, and dignity.
- They place financial burdens on local law enforcement while doing nothing to make our communities safer . Instead, agreements between ICE and local law enforcement erode public trust and discourage immigrant communities from reporting crime and seeking help in emergencies.
- They lead to family separations, psychological trauma, and long-term developmental harm for children in immigrant families.
Watch Our Testimony
CDF-TX Senior Administrator of Policy and Advocacy, Trudy Taylor Smith, testified against both bills:
- Watch her testimony on Senate Bill 8 (March 17, 2025)
- Watch her oral testimony on House Bill 5580 (April 14, 2025)
- Read her full written testimony below
Written Testimony: Trudy Taylor Smith, CDF-TX
Chairman Spiller, Vice Chairwoman Cole, and honorable Members of the House Subcommittee on County and Regional Government, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Trudy Taylor Smith, and I am the senior administrator of Policy and Advocacy for Children’s Defense Fund-Texas (CDF-TX). We are a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to building community so young people grow up with dignity, hope, and joy.
CDF-TX strongly opposes House Bill 5580 because it would directly contribute to violations of children’s fundamental rights to freedom, dignity, and physical and psychological safety. This bill would also increase costs for local law enforcement across our state without doing anything to make Texas communities safer. It would use taxpayer money to separate families, lock up immigrant children and parents in inhumane conditions, and deport law-abiding families who have been contributing members of their local communities for years.
H.B. 5580 would require sheriffs in counties with a population of at least 100,000 people to request and accept any 287(g) agreements offered. Under these agreements, local officers and sheriff’s department employees will assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with federal immigration enforcement. These agreements are not limited to jails and would turn local law enforcement into federal immigration agents as they carry out their duties in Texas communities.
ICE is reportedly targeting migrant families and unaccompanied children in particular for detention and deportation.[i] In line with this priority, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is re-opening two family detention facilities in Texas known as “Dilley” and “Karnes,” named for the towns where they are located,[ii] and families have already arrived at Karnes. Research shows that detained children experience developmental delays, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation.[iii] When immigrant families were detained at these facilities under the first Trump administration, widespread abuse and neglect were documented there,[iv] and the American Academy of Pediatrics stated that DHS facilities like these failed to “meet the basic standards for the care of children in residential settings.”[v] In 2018, a toddler tragically died after she and her mother were detained at Dilley for 20 days.[vi]
When they are not detained alongside their parents, children also suffer severe psychological harm from losing a primary caregiver when a parent is detained or deported.[vii] Research has repeatedly shown the “far reaching effects of these separations into adulthood, including increased risk for mental health problems, poor social functioning, insecure attachment, disrupted stress reactivity, and mortality.”[viii] The Society for Community Research and Action, Division 27 of American Psychological Association, notes that “[f]ollowing deportation of a family member, children demonstrate numerous emotional and behavioral challenges, such as eating and sleeping changes, anxiety, sadness, anger, and withdrawal.”[ix]
Deportation of a parent has also been linked to developmental delays, decreased household income, and an increased risk of poverty.[x] Children whose families are separated could face hunger, housing instability, and homelessness as a result of losing their breadwinners.[xi] Moreover, after a parent is detained or deported, children’s grades and school attendance often drop, and older children may be forced to drop out of school altogether, either to work or to care for younger siblings.[xii] This negatively impacts their future job prospects and their ability to participate in society or support themselves financially. Family separation impacts every area of a child’s life.
Instead of using taxpayer dollars to fund immigration enforcement activities that will traumatize children—including infants—by separating them from their families or putting them behind bars, our state should focus instead on investments that will truly improve public safety for all Texans, such as funding quality education, healthcare, and other public services.
As adults, we all share a moral duty to ensure that the children in our midst experience the care and safety they need to successfully navigate the journey to adulthood and reach their full potential. As leaders of this state, your responsibility for the well-being of children in Texas is heightened because of the power your decisions carry to impact their lives. Therefore, we urge you to protect the dignity and well-being of children by voting against H.B. 5580.
[i] Ainsley, Julia, “Trump raids will now target migrant families who entered the U.S. with their children,” NBC News, Mar. 6, 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/trump-raids-will-now-target-migrants-entered-us-families-children-rcna193611.
[ii] Bustillo, Ximena, “President Trump brings back practice of detaining families together,” NPR News, Mar. 7, 2025, https://www.npr.org/2025/03/07/g-s1-52674/trump-detention-families.
[iii] The American Academy of Pediatrics, Policy Statement on Detention of Immigrant Children, May 1, 2017 (reaffirmed Nov. 2022), https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/139/5/e20170483/38727/Detention-of-Immigrant-Children?autologincheck=redirected.
[iv] The Marshall Project, “Inside Family Detention, Trump’s Big Solution,” Jun. 22, 2018, https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/06/22/inside-family-detention-trump-s-big-solution.
[v] The American Academy of Pediatrics, supra note iii.
[vi] Forde, Kaelyn, “Mother of toddler who died after being released from ICE custody files wrongful death claim,” ABC News, Aug. 29, 2018, https://abcnews.go.com/US/mother-toddler-died-released-ice-custody-files-wrongful/story?id=57473060.
[vii] Bouza, Johayra, et al. “The Science is Clear: Separating Families has Long-term Damaging Psychological and Health Consequences for Children, Families, and Communities.” Society for Research in Child Development, 20 June 2018, www.srcd.org/briefs-fact-sheets/the-science-is-clear. Accessed 10 Apr. 2025.
[viii] Ibid.
[ix] Langhout, Regina Day et al. “Statement on the Effects of Deportation and Forced Separation on Immigrants, their Families, and Communities: A Policy Statement by the Society for Community Research and Action: Division 27 of the American Psychological Association.” American Journal of Community Psychology, vol. 62, no. 1-2, Sept. 2018, pp. 3-12. Wiley Online Library, https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12256. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.
[x] Children Thrive Action Network, 13 June 2024. “Afterthoughts: The Children of Deported Parents.” childrenthriveaction.org/2024/06/afterthoughts-the-children-of-deported-parents/. Accessed 10 Apr. 2025.
[xi] American Immigration Council. “Mass Deportation: Devastating Costs to America, Its Budget and Economy.” Oct. 2024, p. 3, www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/mass-deportation. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.
[xii] Children Thrive Action Network, supra note x.