Court extends pause on Texas law
Migrant-arrest measure receiving further consideration
AUSTIN, Texas — The U.S. Supreme Court extended a pause Tuesday on a Texas law that would allow police to arrest migrants accused of crossing into the country illegally as federal and state officials prepare for a showdown over immigration enforcement authority.
Justice Samuel Alito’s order extending the hold on the law until Monday came a day before the previous hold was set to expire. The extension gives the court an extra week to consider what opponents have called the most extreme attempt by a state to police immigration since an Arizona law that was partially struck down by the Supreme Court in 2012.
U.S. District Judge David Ezra had rejected the law last month, calling it unconstitutional and rebuking multiple aspects of the legislation in a 114-page ruling that also brushed off claims by Texas Republicans of an “invasion” along the southern border. But a federal appeals court stayed that ruling and the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to intervene.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the law, known as Senate Bill 4, in December. It is part of his heightened measures along the state’s boundary with Mexico, testing how far state officials can go to prevent migrants from crossing into the U.S. illegally after border crossing reached record highs.
Senate Bill 4 would also give local judges the power to order migrants arrested under the provision to leave the country or face a misdemeanor charge for entering the U.S. illegally. Migrants who don’t leave after being ordered to do so could be arrested again and charged with a more serious felony.
In an appeal to the high court, the Justice Department said the law would profoundly alter “the status quo that has existed between the United States and the States in the context of immigration for almost 150 years.”
U.S. officials have also argued it would hamper the government’s ability to enforce federal immigration laws and harm the country’s relationship with Mexico.
The battle over the immigration enforcement law is one of multiple legal disputes between Texas officials and the Biden administration over the extent to which the state can patrol the Texas-Mexico border to hamper illegal crossings.
SHELTER RECORDS
A Texas judge on Monday ruled in favor of a large migrant shelter on the U.S.-Mexico border that is seeking to shield records from Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is seeking to shut down the facility over claims it encourages migrants to enter the country illegally.
The order by Judge Francisco X. Dominguez of El Paso keeps Annunciation House — which for decades has been one of Texas’ largest border shelters for migrants — from having to immediately turn over internal documents that Paxton’s office demanded last month.
Dominguez criticized Paxton and accused him of running “roughshod” over the shelter “without regard to due process or fair play.”
Paxton’s office did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
Aid groups have given critical support to new arrivals, eliciting criticism from some quarters.
State officials visited Annunciation House in early February demanding immediate access to review records — including medical and immigration documents — of migrants who received services at the shelter since 2022.
Officials from Annunciation House, which oversees a network of shelters, said they were willing to comply but needed time to determine what they could legally share without violating the constitutional rights of their clients.
About 500 migrants currently are spread over Annunciation House sites, an uptick in their numbers, said Ruben Garcia, the shelter’s executive director.
Although the shelter can return to normal operating procedures, Garcia said the lawsuit has negatively affected them.
“We depend a lot [on] volunteers and we’ve had volunteers leave because they’ve been concerned that they could somehow get caught up in this legal process,” Garcia said. “I’m sure it’s going to make other people who might consider volunteering think twice about wanting to volunteer.”