U.S. appeals court weighs fate of Texas border enforcement law

“Texas has a right to defend itself,” including from drug cartels. Aaron Nielson Lawyer for Texas

A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday began hearing arguments on whether to continue blocking a Republican-backed Texas law that would empower state authorities to arrest and prosecute migrants for illegally crossing the U.s.-mexico border.

A three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is considering whether to allow the law known as SB4 to take effect while the state appeals a judge’s ruling that blocked it pending the outcome of a challenge by the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden and civil rights groups.

Aaron Nielson, a lawyer for

Texas, told the panel in opening remarks that SB4 mirrors federal immigration law and is a legitimate exercise of the state’s police powers.

“Texas has a right to defend itself,” including from drug cartels, Nielson said.

But he seemed to struggle to answer questions about how the law would work in practice from Circuit Judge Priscilla Richman, who noted that no other state has claimed the right to remove people in the country illegally.

“This is not a power that has been exercised historically by states,” she said.

The 5th Circuit had initially paused the ruling blocking Sb4and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld that decision on Tuesday, briefly allowing Texas to enforce the law. But in an unusual move hours later, the 5th Circuit panel reversed its earlier ruling in a 2-1 vote.

The dispute over the Texas law is one in a series of legal battles between Republican state officials and the Biden administration over the state’s ability to police the border. Texas officials have blamed Biden for an influx in illegal border crossings.