Texas can enforce controversial immigration law, US appeals court decides

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Texas can finally enforce an immigration law that's been stalled for years after a U.S. appeals court lifted a recent block.

SB 4 can be enforced

The latest:

In the Friday decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the panel granted Texas' appeal of a temporary injunction against Senate Bill 4, which would allow for state and local law enforcement officers to arrest people they suspect may have crossed the border illegally. Notably, Judge Leslie Southwick dissented in the decision, which says she would deny the motion.

The order contains few details other than staying the previous injunction. That earlier order had blocked the following provisions:

• The reentry crime would apply to anyone living in or traveling through Texas who reentered the United States — even if the person had federal permission to reenter or has since obtained lawful immigration status such as a green card.
• The power given to magistrates — who don’t know the intricacies of immigration law — to issue deportation orders.
• The crime of failing to comply with the magistrate’s removal orders.
• The requirement that magistrates continue a prosecution even when a person has a pending immigration case under federal law.

Now that the law is enforceable, those provisions can be instated. Read the full order below:

Gov. Abbott weighs in

What they're saying:

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott commented on the decision Friday afternoon, posting to X, formerly Twitter, in celebration of the court's stay.

"We will keep fighting in the courts, working with President Trump, and doing everything necessary to secure our border and protect Texans," Abbott said in his post.

Senate Bill 4

The backstory:

In addition to allowing for immigration enforcement by non-immigration officers, the law also enhances such crossings to a state crime, and requires state judges to expel people convicted of illegal entry. 

Critics of the law, like the ACLU of Texas, call it "extreme," and have filed recent lawsuits to prevent it from going into effect. 

Related

article

Court lifts block on SB4 that lets Texas enforce immigration law

An appeals court has lifted a block on a state law that allows Texas to enforce immigration law.

SB 4 passed in 2023 and scheduled to take effect in 2024, made entering Texas from another country anywhere outside an official border crossing a state crime. It allowed state authorities to arrest people in those cases and allowed state judges to order them to self-deport.

A lawsuit filed by El Paso County and some non-profit groups led to an injunction from a lower court that stopped enforcement of the law. Opponents said immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility.