Texas migrants law blocked overview:
- Who: The 5th Circuit blocked a Texas law that would have given the state the power to arrest and deport migrants suspected of crossing the border into the U.S. illegally.
- Why: The ruling denied an attempt by Texas to stay a preliminary injunction applied by a lower court on Senate Bill 4.
- Where: The case is in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.
The 5th Circuit earlier this week blocked a Texas migrants law that would have allowed the state to arrest and deport anyone suspected of having illegally crossed the border into the U.S.
The federal appellate court, while denying an attempt by Texas to stay a preliminary injunction applied by a lower court on its Senate Bill 4, ruled federal immigration authority likely exceeds that of the state.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed S.B. 4 into law in December, according to the Texas Tribune. The law, which was supposed to have gone into effect March 5, amended a Texas Penal Code revolving around prohibiting non-citizens from illegal entry or presence in the state.
The court ruled, however, that the core provisions of S.B. 4, which amended the penal code to include the sections “Illegal Entry from Foreign Nation” and “Illegal Reentry by Certain Aliens,” are overruled by federal law.
“For nearly 150 years, the Supreme Court has held that the power to control immigration — the entry, admission, and removal of noncitizens — is exclusively a federal power,” U.S. Circuit Judge Priscilla Richman wrote in the court’s majority opinion.
Texas’ entry and removal laws ‘significantly impair’ discretion of federal officials, court finds
The 5th Circuit also cited entry and removal laws in Texas that it ruled “significantly impair the exercise of discretion by federal immigration officials.”
“Though the Texas laws carve out some room for instances in which the federal government has exercised such discretion, they limit others,” Judge Richman wrote.
As an example, the court noted Congress has given the U.S. attorney general the authority to “waive various requirements” that would “otherwise stand in the way of admission” into the U.S., but that a noncitizen would not be able to pursue those avenues “once Texas proceedings are instituted against them.”
“The broadest exercise of federal discretion is the Executive’s decision not to pursue either civilly or criminally the very noncitizens whom Texas has drawn a bead upon in enacting new state laws,” Judge Richman wrote.
The Biden administration filed a complaint against Texas over S.B. 4 in January, arguing the law infringes on the federal government’s jurisdiction to manage immigration, Law360 reports.
In a similar case, a California federal judge in November preliminarily approved a settlement between the federal government and about 5,000 migrant families who were separated during the Trump administration.
The settlement will provide the migrant families with medical assistance and parole to remain in the U.S. temporarily, along with assistance with travel in certain cases.
Do you agree with the court’s decision to block Texas’ Senate Bill 4? Let us know in the comments.
The Texas migrant law case is U.S. v. State of Texas, Case No. 24-50149, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.
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