Immig law ‘whiplash’
For now, Texas can’t criminally charge those entering illegally
Texas’ attempt to enforce its own immigration law was blocked once again late Tuesday night by an appeals court, hours after the Supreme Court had allowed the law to take effect.
The law, designated Senate Bill 4, made it a state crime in Texas to enter the state from Mexico illegally. Critics have said that along with encouraging racial profiling, the law violates the Constitution.
Immigration policy is typically the domain of the federal government and is enforced by Border Patrol. But Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton have argued the feds aren’t doing enough to help, so they championed SB 4 to give local cops the authority to arrest people suspected of entering the state illegally.
The law had been blocked for months following lawsuits from the Justice Department and the American Civil Liberties Union. However, on Tuesday afternoon, the Supreme Court lifted a temporary stay and allowed Texas to enforce the law while sending the case back to a lower court.
But just a few hours later, the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a new decision that once again blocked the law.
“Hopefully everyone can agree that this kind of judicial whiplash is bad for everyone,” University of Texas law professor Steve Vladeck told the Texas Tribune, calling the back-andforth “indefensibly chaotic.”
The 5th Circuit was scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday on the law.
Even following the Supreme Court decision, some Texas cops who would be tasked with enforcing SB 4 remained skeptical.
“A lot of the local police chiefs here, we don’t believe it will survive a constitutional challenge,” Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra said. “We have no training whatsoever to determine whether an individual is here in this country, legally.”