Texas House Representative Matt Rinaldi’s very poor decision to call ICE on hundreds of peaceful demonstrators protesting the state’s discriminatory “show me your papers” law could come back to bite him right in his racist ass. An attorney involved in the legal action against Senate Bill 4 says Rinaldi’s cowardly act may be used in the effort to defeat the legislation in court:

Jose Garza, an attorney representing El Paso County in its suit against SB 4, told the Observer that the incident will “almost assuredly” be used to help establish in court that the Texas Legislature passed the law with “discriminatory intent.”

“This was a peaceful protest and many were citizens,” Garza said, “and Rinaldi sicced ICE on them because they were brown.”

SB4’s proponents claim the legislation is a matter of “public safety,” but the simple fact is it undermines it. SB4 turns local law enforcement into de facto federal immigration agents and allows them to question the immigration status of anyone who “looks illegal.” And to Rinaldi, the 1,000 demonstrators who crowded the Texas capitol as part of a “summer of resistance” to the legislation looked the part, showing exactly why SB4 is so fundamentally wrong and dangerous.

“[Rinaldi] saw a bunch of people who look Latino, and he assumed they were undocumented,” said Democratic Rep. Ramon Romero. “So how can he say SB 4 won’t lead to racial profiling?”

By the way, there’s a reason why Rinaldi’s stupidity sounds familiar. In three separate instances, federal judges have used statements from Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, and Rudy Giuliani against them in rulings knocking down the failed Muslim bans and sanctuary cities executive order. Here’s to hoping SB4 has a similar fate.