Hours after the Supreme Court allowed tough new immigration laws to go into effect, a federal appeals court issued an order late Tuesday again barring Texas from arresting immigrants suspected of entering the United States illegally.
The decision by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals comes weeks after a panel of the court cleared a path for Texas to enforce the law by suspending a lower judge’s injunction.
But in a 2-1 order, an appeals court panel lifted the moratorium ahead of Wednesday’s court argument.
Texas authorities have not announced any arrests under the law.
Earlier Tuesday, a divided Supreme Court allowed Texas to begin enforcing a law giving more powers to police. Broad powers to arrest immigrants While a legal battle is unfolding over this measure, there are suspicions that they crossed the border illegally.
The conservative majority order rejected an emergency application from the Biden administration, saying the law was a clear violation of federal authority to create confusion in immigration law.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott praised the order, which paves the way for legislation that would allow Texas police officers to arrest immigrants who enter the country illegally and give judges the power to order them to leave the United States. Ta.
The high court did not address whether the law was constitutional. The action was sent to the Court of Appeals, which issued a ruling late Tuesday.
It was also unclear where the deported immigrants would go if the law was ultimately passed. Even if they are not Mexican citizens, they are being sent to a port of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border.
But the Mexican government said Tuesday that it would not accept the return of migrants from Texas to Mexican territory “under any circumstances.”
Mexico does not have to accept deportations of non-Mexican citizens.
The Department of Homeland Security said the federal government will also continue court challenges to laws that “further complicate” the jobs of “already strained” workers.
The agency will not cooperate in any way with efforts to enforce the law, known as Senate Bill 4.
The Supreme Court majority did not write a detailed opinion in this case, as is common in emergency appeals.
However, the decision to allow the law to take effect was met with dissent from liberal Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor.
“The court has greenlit a disruptive law that upends the long-standing balance of federal and state power,” Sotomayor wrote in a blistering dissent, joined by Jackson. .
Opponents believe the law is the most dramatic attempt by a state to crack down on immigration since Arizona’s law more than a decade ago, parts of which were struck down by the Supreme Court. Critics also say the Texas law could lead to civil rights violations and racial profiling.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the law “harmful and unconstitutional” and said it would cause chaos and burden law enforcement.
He called on Republicans in Congress to fix the problem with a federal border security bill.
Texas has argued that it has the right to take action against what officials are calling an ongoing crisis at its southern border.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice said in a statement that it is “prepared to handle the influx” of detainees in the state related to state law.
Texas Sheriffs Association Executive Director Skylar Hahn said sheriff’s offices have been preparing to implement Senate Bill 4 since last year’s legislative session.
The law allows police in counties bordering Mexico to arrest people they see crossing illegally.
It also could be enforced elsewhere in Texas if someone is arrested for another offense and fingerprints taken at the time of the jail booking are linked to the alleged re-entry violation.
It likely won’t work during routine traffic stops, he said.
“I don’t think anything will ultimately change,” Hahn said.
Arrests for illegal border crossings along the southern border hit a record high in December, but halved in January. This is due to seasonal declines and increased enforcement. The federal government has not yet released February numbers.
Some Texas officials expressed caution.
“Many of the local police chiefs here don’t believe they can survive a constitutional challenge. He has no training at all,” Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra said.
He is president of the Southwest Border Sheriff Coalition, which represents 31 border counties from Texas to California.
Conservative Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett suggested her vote in favor of Texas was due to the technicalities of the appellate process rather than any agreement with the states on the content of the law.
“To my knowledge, this court has never considered an appellate court’s decision to initiate or not initiate an administrative suspension. I would not be in that business. Administrative Suspension “If invoked, it would be a brief prelude to the main event, a ruling on the motion to stay pending appeal,” said the concurring opinion, which was joined by fellow conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh. she wrote.
The fight over Texas immigration law is one of several legal disputes between Texas officials and the Biden administration over how much the state can do to secure the Texas-Mexico border and prevent illegal border crossings. be.
Several Republican governors support Abbott’s efforts, saying the federal government is not doing enough to enforce current immigration laws.
In 2012, the Supreme Court struck down key parts of an Arizona law that allowed police to arrest people for violating federal immigration laws. The bill is often referred to by opponents as a “show me the paperwork” bill.
At the time, the high court was divided, ruling that Washington’s impasse over immigration reform did not justify state intervention.
