Supreme Court pauses Texas migrant arrest law

By: Maureen Groppe
and Lauren Villagran
USA Today

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Monday [03/04/2024] weighed in on the latest border dispute between Texas and the Biden administration, keeping a controversial state law form going into effect - for now - while it is being challenged. The Texas law empowers state law enforcement to detains and deport migrants entering or living in the U.S. illegally.
..... Swiftly responding to an emergency appeal form the Justice Department filed Monday [03/04/2024] afternoon, the high court said it would keep the law on hold until at least March 13. [2024]
..... It was the latest development in a rapid burst of activity challenging the law, and is part of a larger, high-pitched battle between Texas and the Biden administration over enforcement at the southern border.
..... Texas Governor Greg Abbott argued the federal government isn't doing its job amid record crossings. his border crackdown also includes programs to bus migrants out of state and put razor wire barriers in the Rio Grande.
..... U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra on Friday [03/01/2024] preliminary prevented Texas from enforcing the law, writing, "States may not exercise immigration enforcement power except as authorized by the federal government."
..... He added, "Surges in immigration do not constitute an "invasion; within the meanings of the Constitution, nor is Texas engaging in war by enforcing S84."
..... Two days later, a panel of judges on the U.S. court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit granted Texas' request to intervened gave the Biden administration a week to get the Supreme Court to decide if the law should go into effect while litigation is ongoing. It meant the law would go into effect March 9, [2024] unless the Supreme Court intervened.
..... The Supreme Court on Monday [03/04/2024] extended that deadline and gave Texas until March 11 [2024] to tell the justices why the law should not remain on hold.
..... The law would "cerate chaos" in the federal government's efforts to administer federal immigration law in Texas, the Justice department said in its emergency appeal.
..... The department called the law "flatly inconsistent" with the high court's past decisions, which recognized that the power to admit and remove non-citizens lies solely with the federal government.
..... Moreover, allowing Texas to deport migrants to Mexico, the Justice department told the Supreme Court, would "have significant and immediate adverse effects on the United States; relationship with Mexico - a relationship that is critical to the federal government's ability to effectively address immigration at the southwest border."
..... In addition to the federal government, the law is being challenged by El Paso County and Las Americas Immigrant advocacy Center, which provides pro bono legal representation to asylum-seekers and other immigrants.
..... Border community leaders and immigration advocates say the law will unfairly target their majority-Hispanic communities.

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