Hours after Texas SB 4 scored a massive win in court against the Biden administration, a lower court blocked the ruling. The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, gave Texas officials permission to jail and prosecute migrants suspected of crossing the US southern border illegally.
However, an appeals court late Tuesday blocked the state from enforcing its controversial SB 4 immigration law. In a late-night order, a 5th Circuit Court of Appeals panel dissolved a pause issued in early March to suspend a lower court ruling that found SB 4 unconstitutional.
The new order reinstated a ruling from the US District Court Judge David Ezra. Notably, Ezra concluded in February that SB4 conflicted with federal immigration laws and the Constitution. However, the Supreme Court denied the DOJ’s requests to void the initial 5th Circuit order that paused Ezra’s ruling.
Consequently, the high court allowed the law to take effect for several hours. However, it’s unclear whether Texas arrested any migrants under the law during that short period. Following the appeals court decision blocking the Supreme Court’s ruling, Ezra’s order blocking SB 4 will stay in place.
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Therefore, Texas can’t enforce the law until the appeals court and the Supreme Court rule on its constitutionality. During the appeals court hearing on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, the court expressed concern about the law.
Chief Judge Priscilla Richman, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, appeared skeptical of the law. She noted that no state previously had claimed the power to deport migrants.
She also questioned whether it would honor federal protections granted to people seeking asylum. Similarly, Judge Andrew S. Oldham, a former general counsel to Abbott, questioned the law’s provisions. “We have no clue how this would be enforced,” he said.
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However, a third judge, Irma Carrillo Ramirez, a border native, remained quiet during the hearing. Signed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott last year, S.B.4 criminalizes unauthorized migration at the state level. Furthermore, it makes entering the US outside of a port of entry, already a federal offense, into a state crime.
In addition, it creates a state felony charge for illegal reentry. SB 4 empowers Texas law enforcement officials to detain and prosecute migrants on these new criminal charges. It also grants state judges the power to deport migrants to Mexico as an alternative to prosecution.
After the bill’s passage, the Justice Department condemned it. The DOJ said SB 4 conflicts with federal law and the Constitution. Furthermore, the department noted that immigration enforcement, including arrests and deportations, has long been a federal responsibility.
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It also argued that the measure would harm relations with the Mexican government. Notably, Mexico denounced SB 4 as “anti-immigrant” and vowed to reject migrants returned by the state of Texas. Abbott is one of the leading state critics of President Biden’s border policies.
Hence, he portrayed SB 4 as a necessary measure to discourage migrants from crossing the Rio Grande. He also argued the federal government has not done enough to deter illegal immigration. Consequently, over the past three years, Texas has mounted the most aggressive state effort to challenge unlawful immigration.
With its Operation Lonestar, the state challenged the federal government’s power over immigration policy. From busing thousands of migrants to major, Democratic-led cities to assembling razor wire and buoys along the border to deter migrant crossings, Texas took immigration laws into its hands.
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