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Jodey Arrington
In a back-and-forth legal battle over a Texas law, SB 4, that would allow state law enforcement to arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the Texas-Mexico border, an order was issued by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals blocking the law from taking effect just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for it to take effect.
The Fifth Circuit has scheduled arguments on Wednesday on whether a trial judge’s injunction blocking the measure should be allowed to take effect throughout the federal government’s appeal.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that SB 4 could take effect as a legal battle plays out. That decision came a day after Justice Samuel Alito had extended its temporary block of the law to consider an appeal from the Biden administration, which has argued the law is unconstitutional.
Representative Jodey Arrington (R-TX) issued a statement following the SCOTUS decision to allow SB 4 to go into effect.
“The Constitution is clear: Section IV Article 4 says the federal government shall protect each of the states against invasion,” said Arrington. “When the federal government fails to fulfill this constitutional duty, Article 1 Section 10 expressly guarantees states the sovereign power to repel an invasion and defend their citizenry from overwhelming and imminent danger.
““It is clear to any honest and objective person living in this country that President Biden has willfully disregarded the laws of the land, abdicated his constitutional duty to provide for a common defense, and unilaterally surrendered control of our border to terrorist drug cartels.
“I applaud the Supreme Court for allowing Texas to do what President Biden won’t – stop the chaos, secure the border, and protect Texans and Americans.”
The case remains pending before in the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and will have to be resolved in a federal court in Austin where the lawsuit was filed.
In February, a U.S. District Judge in Austin blocked SB 4, but Attorney General Ken Paxton immediately filed an appeal to the ruling in the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which reversed the district court ruling.
The Biden administration then appealed to the Supreme Court, which temporarily blocked the law until March 18 .
The law was signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in December and set to go into effect in March making illegal immigration a state crime, allowing state and local law enforcement to arrest those individuals, who could then face deportation or jail time. The U.S. Department of Justice and Biden administration consider the Texas law inconsistent with federal law.
Texas argues that the state has a constitutional right to defend itself, stating the Biden administration has failed to do its job in protecting the border.
SB 4 makes illegally crossing the border a Class B misdemeanor, carrying a punishment of up to six months in jail. Repeat offenders could face a second- degree felony with a punishment of two to 20 years in prison.
The law also requires state judges to order migrants returned to Mexico if they are convicted; local law enforcement would be responsible for transporting migrants to the border. A judge could drop the charges if a migrant agrees to return to Mexico voluntarily.
Regardless of how the 5th Circuit acts following Wednesday’s arguments, the appeals court will still hold arguments next month over whether the law is unconstitutional and should be blocked indefinitely.
Meanwhile, in efforts to curb illegal immigration, Wisconsin, Florida and Mississippi passed some form of legislation to protect their states. Additionally, Iowa lawmakers passed a bill on Tuesday that would make it a crime to enter the state after being deported or denied entry into the United States. The passage puts the Midwestern state on track to join Texas in enforcing immigration outside the federal system.