An appeals court has overturned a Supreme Court order hours after it green-lighted a Texas law allowing authorities to arrest people they suspect of entering the country illegally.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals order came late Tuesday evening, according to The Hill. The appeals panel issued a stay ahead of oral arguments before the court Wednesday.
Earlier Tuesday, the Supreme Court rejected an emergency application from the Biden administration, which argued the law is a violation of federal authority.
The Supreme Court didn’t address whether the law is constitutional. Instead, the high court sent the measure to the appellate court, which made the ruling later Tuesday evening.
The law, also known as S.B. 4 was signed into effect last year by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and makes crossing the border illegally a crime in the Lone Star State and enables local law enforcement to arrest those suspected of crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, before facing deportation to Mexico or jail time.
Biden’s Justice Department has asserted that the law violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution which prohibits states from interfering with the federal government using its constitutional powers.
The DOJ argued that “SB 4 impedes the federal government’s ability to enforce entry and removal provisions of federal law and interferes with its conduct of foreign relations.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has argued that Texas has a constitutional right and duty to protect itself from “violent” cartels who traffick drugs and people across the U.S. southern border.
“[The] Constitution recognizes that Texas has the sovereign right to defend itself from violent transnational cartels that flood the State with fentanyl, weapons, and all manner of brutality,” Paxton said.
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