A federal judge on Thursday blocked a Texas law that would have empowered local and state law enforcement to arrest and deport illegal immigrants who cross the Southern border into the U.S.
The legislation, signed by Governor Greg Abbott in December, was set to take effect March 5. However, U.S. district judge David Ezra ruled that Senate Bill 4 violated the Constitution and prior legal precedent that gives the federal government the sole authority to enforce immigration laws and policies.
Ezra also rejected Texas’s claims that the record surge in immigration constitutes an “invasion,” which Abbott declared in January under Article I of the Constitution.
“To allow Texas to permanently supersede federal directives on the basis of an invasion would amount to nullification of federal law and authority — a notion that is antithetical to the Constitution and has been unequivocally rejected by federal courts since the Civil War,” the judge wrote in his order.
Ezra, per this reasoning, filed a preliminary injunction to prohibit enforcement of the law while the case plays out in court. Texas attorney general Ken Paxton said he immediately appealed the ruling to the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. This is now the third immigration-related case that is waiting for a ruling by the federal court.
The other two cases pertain to the state’s recent installation of buoy barriers and concertina wire along the Rio Grande, which the Biden administration has been fighting over for months. Texas implemented these border measures last year under Operation Lone Star to deter illegal immigrants from entering Texas.
SB 4 gives state and local government the authority to arrest illegal immigrants who enter Texas from Mexico between officially designated ports of entry. Under this law that is now being contested, those who unlawfully cross the border can be charged with a state misdemeanor and face up to one year in prison. A felony charge, carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years, can be leveled if illegal immigrants are charged with additional crimes or don’t comply with a judge’s orders.
The legislation also authorizes state judges to deport illegal aliens to Mexico if they see fit, rather than pursue prosecution under federal law. The Texas senate and house passed the bill in November, sending it to the governor’s desk for approval.
Since it was enacted, the Justice Department and several immigration-advocacy organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union have sued Texas for proceeding with the new state law. Their lawsuits, which were filed separately, have been combined in the case.
Plaintiffs argue that the bill runs constitutionally afoul of a 2012 Supreme Court ruling, Arizona v. U.S., which forbids states from implementing their own immigration laws. Arizona’s “show me your papers” law was criticized for overstepping federal authority before it was overturned. Creating immigration policy and laws are left entirely to the federal government under the Court’s decision.