The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled 6-3 that a Texas law, Senate Bill 4 which allows Texas peace officers to arrest illegal immigrants crossing into the United States from the Mexico border can take effect while a legal battle makes its way up to be argued before SCOTUS. This decision comes a day after Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito had extended its temporary block of the law.
An appeal from the Biden administration argued that SB 4 is unconstitutional because it interferes with federal immigration laws. The case will rest before the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and will eventually be resolved in a federal court in Austin, where the Biden DOJ filed the lawsuits. Earlier In February, U.S. District Judge David Ezra in Austin blocked SB 4, saying the law “threatens the fundamental notion that the United States must regulate immigration with one voice.” However, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed the ruling to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, and reversed Judge Ezra’s ruling.
The Biden DOJ then appealed to SCOTUS, which temporarily blocked the law until Monday, March 18, 2024, as it considered the federal government’s request to stop the law from going into effect.
