On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed a Texas law permitting state officials to arrest illegal migrants to take effect.
The decision comes one day after the Supreme Court extended an administrative stay on the state law while it considered an emergency appeal by the Biden administration, CNN reported.
Last year, Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 4 into law but it was initially blocked by a federal judge before a federal appeals court reversed the judge’s decision and allowed the law to go into effect. However, the Supreme Court intervened earlier this month — first, delaying the law’s implementation and then extending the stay until March 18. (RELATED: Federal Judge Blocks Texas Border Security Law)
SB 4 allows state officials to arrest and jail immigrants suspected of entering the U.S. unlawfully and also grants state judges the power to order deportations.
The Supreme Court’s Monday decision placed a stay on the Texas law “pending further order” from the court, according to NBC News.
“SCOTUS temporarily halted enforcement of SB 4 but Texas is still using its authority to arrest illegal immigrants for criminal trespass and other violations of law,” Abbott said. “We continue building the wall, use [National Guard] to erect razor wire barriers to repel migrants & buoys remain in river.”
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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