Hours after the Supreme Court gave Texas officials permission to jail and prosecute migrants suspected of crossing the U.S. southern border without authorization, an appeals court late Tuesday blocked the state from enforcing its controversial immigration law known as SB4.
In a late-night order, a 5th Circuit Court of Appeals panel dissolved a pause that it issued in early March to suspend a lower court ruling that found SB4 to be unconstitutional.
The order reinstated a ruling from U.S. District Court Judge David Ezra, who concluded in late February that SB4 conflicted with federal immigration laws and the Constitution.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Supreme Court denied a request from the Justice Department to void the initial 5th Circuit order that had paused Ezra's ruling. The high court allowed SB4 to take effect for several hours, though it's unclear whether Texas arrested any migrants under the law during that short time span.
Ezra's order blocking SB4 will stay in place until the 5th Circuit rules on Texas' request to allow the law to be enforced while the appeals court considers its legality. A virtual hearing on that question is scheduled for Wednesday morning.
Recently, a law known as SB4 was passed by the Texas legislature, which aims to criminalize unauthorized migration at the state level. This law makes entering the U.S. outside of a port of entry, which is already a federal offense, into a state crime. Additionally, SB4 establishes a state felony charge for illegal reentry into the country.
Under SB4, law enforcement officials in Texas, both at the state and local level, are empowered to detain and prosecute migrants for these new criminal charges. Moreover, state judges now have the authority to mandate that migrants return to Mexico as an alternative to facing prosecution.
The Justice Department has raised concerns about SB4, stating that it conflicts with federal law and the Constitution. The Department emphasized that immigration enforcement, including arrests and deportations, has traditionally been a federal responsibility. Furthermore, the measure has strained relations with the Mexican government, which has criticized SB4 as "anti-immigrant" and declared its refusal to accept migrants returned by the state of Texas.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a vocal critic of President Biden's border policies, has defended SB4 as a necessary step to discourage migrants from crossing the Rio Grande. He argues that the federal government has not taken sufficient action to curb illegal immigration.
In the past few years, Texas has launched a robust state-led initiative to challenge the federal government's authority over immigration policy. This initiative has involved transporting tens of thousands of migrants to major cities governed by Democrats, setting up razor wire and buoys along border areas to prevent migrant crossings, and initiating multiple legal battles against federal immigration programs.
