A federal appeals court issued a temporary stay of a lower court’s order to stop the implementation of Texas immigration law, allowing it to take effect this week unless the Supreme Court intervenes.
Last Monday, a federal court in Austin, Texas, prevented the state government from enacting Senate Bill 4, which would authorize state law enforcement to arrest and detain persons suspected of entering the country illegally.
In his Thursday ruling to block the measure, Judge David Alan Ezra stated, “If allowed to proceed, SB 4 could open the door to each state passing its own version of immigration laws.”
Texas filed an appeal, with Republican Gov. Greg Abbott declaring, “We will not back down in our fight to protect our state — and our nation — from President Biden’s border crisis.”
Over the weekend, the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay of Ezra’s judgment but postponed its decision for seven days to allow the Biden administration to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The measure is only banned until March 9, unless the Supreme Court keeps it on hold. It was initially scheduled to go into effect on March 5.
El Paso County, which joined the Department of Justice in its lawsuit against Texas, also stated that enacting SB 4 would overwhelm its jail system with thousands of more arrests, and praised Ezra’s decision last week to stop the legislation.
Texas has contended that SB 4 does not violate federal law and that the state is “entitled to defend itself from an invasion.”
“Law enforcement officers in Texas are now authorized to arrest & jail any illegal immigrants crossing the border,” Abbott said.
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