Late Tuesday, a Texas law that would enable state police to arrest and deport migrants crossing illegally into the United States from Mexico was once again suspended. This development is part of an ongoing legal battle over the law’s implementation.
The Democratic administration of President Joe Biden has vehemently opposed Senate Bill 4, contending that immigration matters fall under federal jurisdiction and are not within the purview of individual states.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated, “SB 4 will not only make communities in Texas less safe, it will also burden law enforcement, and sow chaos and confusion at our southern border. SB 4 is just another example of Republican officials politicizing the border while blocking real solutions.”
Last month, a federal judge temporarily blocked a law passed by the Republican majority in the Texas state legislature, stating that it “conflicts with key provisions of federal immigration law.”
However, a conservative-dominated appeals court ruled that SB 4 could be enforced unless the Supreme Court decided otherwise.
The nation’s highest court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, issued a temporary stay on SB 4 earlier this month but lifted it Tuesday, allowing it to take effect while legal challenges play out in lower courts.
However, by Tuesday evening, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals put the law back on hold. This hold, though, could soon be reversed, allowing the law to go back into effect as arguments over it continue.
The three liberal justices on the Supreme Court dissented. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, “Today, the Court invites further chaos and crisis in immigration enforcement.”
“Texas passed a law that directly regulates the entry and removal of noncitizens and explicitly instructs its state courts to disregard any ongoing federal immigration proceedings,” Sotomayor said. “That law upends the federal-state balance of power that has existed for over a century.”
Mexico stated on Tuesday that it “will not accept, under any circumstances, repatriations by the state of Texas,” including Mexican citizens.
Meanwhile, migrants in Mexico told AFP that they still intended to cross the border.
“We’ve come to work,” said 42-year-old Oscar Galeano from Guatemala, hoping for compassion from US authorities and an opportunity to immigrate. “We didn’t come to take anything from anyone.”
Venezuelan Giancarlo Navarro, 43, described himself as “a political exile.”
“I cannot return to my country,” he said.
Republicans attribute the recent record flow of migrants into the United States to Biden, while the White House accuses Republicans of deliberately undermining a bipartisan effort to find a solution.
Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas and an ally of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, has criticized an “invasion” of the southern border.
