In a major blow to the Biden administration, the Supreme Court has allowed the state of Texas to enforce an immigration law that gives local police the power to arrest illegal immigrants.
The Biden admin had filed an emergency application to block Texas from enforcing the new immigration law, known as SB4.
Today, the Supreme Court temporarily rejected the Biden admin’s request.
Take a look at the breaking news:
🚨🚨 HUGE WIN: Texas has defeated the Biden Administration’s and ACLU’s emergency motions at the Supreme Court. Our immigration law, SB 4, is now in effect. As always, it’s my honor to defend Texas and its sovereignty, and to lead us to victory in court.
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) March 19, 2024
BREAKING: Supreme Court Grants Texas Authority to Arrest Undocumented Immigrants Pending Final Ruling, Making Border Crossings a State Crime. WATCHpic.twitter.com/gxVMiHSgHW
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) March 19, 2024
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had signed the bill to allow police to make illegal alien arrests back in December:
📍Brownsville
At the Texas-Mexico border today for a bill signing ceremony that will take #OperationLoneStar to the next level.
Join me LIVE as I sign historic border security legislation into law: https://t.co/rmFb1eHMdK pic.twitter.com/6jZ3qPNWPg
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) December 18, 2023
However, since then, the Biden regime and leftists have been doing everything in their power to stop the legislation in its tracks.
This includes lawsuits from the ACLU and attempts by federal judges to halt the immigration law.
While Texas’ new immigration law may face additional attempts to block its passage in the future, for now, it is set to go into effect while litigation passes through lower courts.
NBC News has more details:
The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that it will allow Texas to enforce for now a contentious new law that gives local police the power to arrest migrants.
The conservative-majority court, with three liberal justices dissenting, rejected an emergency request by the Biden administration, which said states have no authority to legislate on immigration, an issue the federal government has sole authority over.
That means the law can go into effect while litigation continues in lower courts. It could still be blocked at a later date.
“The court gives a green light to a law that will upend the longstanding federal-state balance of power and sow chaos,” liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a dissenting opinion. Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson also objected to the decision.
The majority did not explain its reasoning, but one of the conservative justices, Amy Coney Barrett, wrote separately to note that an appeals court has yet to weigh in on the issue.
“If a decision does not issue soon, the applicants may return to this court,” she wrote. Her opinion was joined by fellow conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority.
The law in question, known as SB4, allows police to arrest migrants who illegally cross the border from Mexico and imposes criminal penalties. It would also empower state judges to order people to be deported to Mexico.
CBS News also reported:
The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave Texas officials permission to jail and prosecute migrants suspected of crossing the U.S. southern border without authorization, greenlighting the enforcement of a state immigration law known as SB4 that the Biden administration has called unconstitutional.
Denying a request from the Justice Department, the high court allowed the controversial Texas law, one of Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature immigration policies, to take effect while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit considers the measure’s legality.
Passed by the Texas legislature last year, SB4 criminalizes unauthorized migration at the state level, making the act of entering the U.S. outside of a port of entry — already a federal offense — into a state crime. It also creates a state felony charge for illegal reentry.
At the request of the Biden administration, a federal judge last month blocked SB4, finding that the state measure is at odds with federal immigration laws. That ruling was then suspended by the 5th Circuit, which issued an administrative stay to review the matter. Justice Samuel Alito then paused that order on administrative grounds, which he extended Monday evening.
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