Supreme Court Ruins GOP Celebration Over Texas Law Allowing Pollice to Arrest Migrants Entering Illegally
Well, that celebration did not last long.
We only recently reported that a new Texas law would allow local law enforcement to arrest migrants who entered the country illegally.
On Monday, the Supreme Court slammed the brakes on the law, delaying it from taking effect until March 13 while it considered arguments.
Hold It
After the law was passed and signed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, the Biden administration started to litigate the claim.
After an appeals court gave the thumbs up, the Biden administration appealed to the Supreme Court.
The court then stayed the previous decision until Texas responded to the Biden motion.
When Abbott passed the law, he posted on X, “Law enforcement officers in Texas are now authorized to arrest & jail any illegal immigrants crossing the border.
“Unless the Supreme Court intervenes by March 9.”
Intervene they did, so now we have to wait just a few more weeks to see if the Supreme Court will hear formal arguments or shoot the Biden appeal down.
The new law, formally titled SB4, would have enabled local police and the Texas Department of Public Safety to arrest anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant.
If it was proven they had entered the country illegally, the person would be given the option to go back across the border on their own or face prison time here in Texas.
The law was opposed by civil rights groups and the Biden administration, claiming this is a federal matter, not a state matter.
Texas lost the case in a ruling by Judge David Ezra, a Ronald Reagan appointee, but his ruling was overturned by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Abbott has defended the law saying that Texas has a right to defend its border against this “invasion,” language that Ezra called out in his initial ruling against Texas.
There is a precedent here, dating back to 2012, where the Supreme Court struck down a similar Arizona law, citing that all immigration matters are under the purview of the federal government, so I have a sickly feeling that the court will decide in the Biden administration’s favor.
This is actually a very important decision for Trump as well, as he has vowed to sign an executive order extending this power to local police officers around the country. If this law is defeated, it is safe to assume any executive order by Trump on this matter would be challenged in court and defeated as well.
