The Biden administration is taking its fight against Texas’ strict immigration law to the Supreme Court.
The Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to vacate the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals’ stay and restore the injunction the lower court granted last Thursday that had temporarily struck down the law. If the Supreme Court does not intervene, the law would go into effect on March 10.
“Absent this Court’s intervention, SB4 will go into effect at 12:01 a.m. on March 10, 2024, profoundly altering the status quo that has existed between the United States and the States in the context of immigration for almost 150 years,” Justice Department lawyers said in the filing.
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
The law, known as SB 4, would authorize local and state law enforcement to arrest migrants they suspect crossed into the state illegally. It would also 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.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had celebrated last week’s ruling being overturned earlier in the day Monday, writing on social media, “BREAKING HUGE NEWS. Federal appeals court allows Texas immigration law to take effect. Law enforcement officers in Texas are now authorized to arrest & jail any illegal immigrants crossing the border.”
The Biden administration has argued that immigration law is solely the responsibility of the federal government, and not local jurisdictions. It repeated that assertion again in Monday’s filing with the Supreme Court.
“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,'” it wrote.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.