FILE – Migrants wait to be processed by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol after they crossed the Rio Grande and entered the U.S. from Mexico, Oct. 19, 2023, in Eagle Pass, Texas. A divided Supreme Court on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, lifted a stay on a Texas law that gives police broad powers to arrest migrants suspected of crossing the border illegally, while a legal battle over immigration authority plays out. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
Published March 19, 2024
A federal appeals court late Tuesday issued an order that again prevents Texas from arresting migrants suspected of entering the U.S. illegally, hours after the Supreme Court allowed the strict new immigration law to take effect.
The decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes weeks after a panel on the same court cleared the way for Texas to enforce the law by putting a pause on a lower judge’s injunction.
But by a 2-1 order, a panel of the appeals court lifted that pause ahead of arguments before the court on Wednesday.
Texas authorities had not announced any arrests made under the law.
Earlier Tuesday a divided Supreme Court had allowed Texas to begin enforcing a law that gives police broad powers to arrest migrants suspected of crossing the border illegally as the legal battle over the measure played out.
The conservative majority order rejected an emergency application from the Biden administration, which says the law is a clear violation of federal authority that would cause chaos in immigration law.
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SOURCE: www.newsnationnow.com
RELATED: Texas’ new immigration law is blocked again
Hours after the U.S. Supreme Court had allowed Senate Bill 4 to go into effect, a federal appeals court let an earlier injunction stand. SB 4 lets Texas police arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the Texas-Mexico border.
Migrants walk along the Rio Grande past recently installed buoys in Eagle Pass, Texas on July 29, 2023. Credit: Verónica Gabriela Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune
Published March 19, 2024
A federal appeals court late Tuesday night stopped a state law allowing Texas police to arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the Texas-Mexico border — hours after the U.S. Supreme Court had allowed it to go into effect.
Earlier in the day, the high court had allowed the law to go into effect after it sent the case back to the appeals court, urging it to issue a ruling promptly. The appeals court soon scheduled a hearing for Wednesday morning. And on the night before hearing oral arguments the appeals court issued an order to let a lower court’s earlier injunction stopping Senate Bill 4 stand, according to a filing.
The Supreme Court earlier Tuesday let SB 4 go into effect but stopped short of ruling on the law’s constitutionality, which has been challenged by the Biden administration.
Steve Vladeck, a University of Texas at Austin law professor, said the back-and-forth is “indefensibly chaotic.”
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SOURCE: www.texastribune.org
RELATED: Texas immigration law back on hold after appeals court ruling
People arriving at the Rio Grande near El Paso, Texas, on March 4. Photo: Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images
Published March 19, 2024
Texas’ strict new immigration law giving state police powers to arrest people on suspicion of illegally crossing the Mexico border was back on hold late Tuesday, hours after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed it to take effect.
The latest: A federal appeals court temporarily blocked the law, known as SB 4, from taking effect in a 2-1 order late Tuesday.
Context: The Supreme Court’s majority ruling didn’t uphold the law but briefly cleared the way for the state to begin enforcing the measure.
- That was until the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ order temporarily put the law back on hold ahead of hearing legal challenges against it on Wednesday.
- One panel member, Circuit Judge Andrew Oldham, dissented, saying: “I would leave that stay in place pending tomorrow’s oral argument on the question.”
Why it matters: The law was challenged by the Department of Justice over concerns that it encroached on the federal government’s authority over immigration and by immigration advocacy organizations that have said it could lead to racial profiling.
- The Supreme Court’s decision marked a victory for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and his fellow Republicans, who have made the recent increase in illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border a central issue in the 2024 elections.
