A briefing this week for lawmakers who sit on the House State Affairs provided a crash course on how to craft immigration-related legislation — and not get sued by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Last month, a federal district judge blocked provisions of Arizona immigration legislation that criminalized failure to apply for or carry immigrant-registration papers; for immigrants to solicit, apply for or perform work; and that authorized warrantless arrests of people if there is probable cause to believe the person has committed a public offense.

But David Morales, the deputy first assistant to Attorney General Greg Abbott, told lawmakers that parts of the bill that survived could be generally referred to as “anti-sanctuary city” provisions, which is a popular party platform for some more conservative lawmakers, including Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, and Leo Berman, R-Tyler, who have made their intentions to file similar legislation well-known. They’ve drawn the ire of some lawmakers who allege, however, that doing what Arizona did will produce the same result Arizona got — a suit filed by the DOJ. But Morales said the injunction ordered last month left several provisions of the Arizona bill intact, including a provision that prohibits Arizona agencies and political subdivisions from limiting enforcement of federal immigration laws, and another that requires state officials to work with federal officials with regard to undocumented immigrants. It could provide a roadmap for Texas lawmakers to follow.

The lay of the land could change before lawmakers in Texas go into session in January. Arizona’s brief to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is due soon and oral arguments are expected to begin in November.

—Julian Aguilar