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5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision blocks enforcement of strict Texas immigration law SB4

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DEVIN DWYER, ARMANDO GARCIA and QUINN OWEN
·1 min read

In a decision late Tuesday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision that again blocks Texas from enforcing its strict immigration law, SB4.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court rejected a Biden administration request to intervene and keep Texas's strict immigration enforcement law on hold while it is challenged in lower courts.

But in the late-night decision, the appeals court dissolved a pause on an order from a lower court that prevented the law from going into effect until litigation is concluded.

PHOTO: 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. (Eric Gay/AP, FILE)
PHOTO: 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. (Eric Gay/AP, FILE)

On Wednesday, the appeals court will hear arguments in the case to determine if the law should remain on hold until the court rules on SB4’s legality.

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The SB4 law would authorize local and state law enforcement to arrest migrants they suspect crossed into the state illegally. It would also give judges the power to order migrants to be transported to a port of entry and returned to Mexico regardless of their country of origin.

The Biden administration has argued that immigration law is solely the responsibility of the federal government, and not local jurisdictions, as laid out in the Constitution.

MORE: NYC mayor pushes for national migrant strategy amid asylum-seeker influx

"This Court has long recognized that the regulation of entry and removal of noncitizens is inseparably intertwined with the conduct of foreign relations and thus vested 'solely in the Federal Government,'" the administration wrote in a filing with the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month.

MORE: Supreme Court pauses strict Texas immigration law ahead of ruling

Texas, meanwhile, has argued that it is within its rights to arrest migrants because SB 4 is applicable under the State War Clause of the Constitution, which allows states to act when it is "actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay."

PHOTO: Immigrants pass through razor wire while crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on March 13, 2024, in El Paso, Texas. The wire was placed by the troops as part of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's 'Operation Lone Star' to deter migrants from crossing into Texas. (John Moore/Getty Images, FILE)
PHOTO: Immigrants pass through razor wire while crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on March 13, 2024, in El Paso, Texas. The wire was placed by the troops as part of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's 'Operation Lone Star' to deter migrants from crossing into Texas. (John Moore/Getty Images, FILE)

5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision blocks enforcement of strict Texas immigration law SB4 originally appeared on abcnews.go.com