Let’s hope this injunction lasts longer.
A Texas law that would allow state and local police to arrest people suspected of having crossed the southern border illegally is once again halted, a day before it was supposed to take effect.
Senate Bill 4, passed in 2023, makes the illegal crossings of the Mexico-Texas border a state crime. It also requires state magistrate judges to order those arrested for illegal entry to leave the country for Mexico if they are convicted, or in lieu of prosecution.
Civil rights groups brought a lawsuit earlier this month, arguing that the sections involving the state’s judicial system are unconstitutional because they encroach on the federal government’s sole authority over immigration laws. It also challenged the state crime provision, saying that the law provides no defense for people who had federal permission to enter the country or those who might have pending immigration status, such as a green card.
U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra granted the preliminary injunction against these sections of the law on Thursday. The Reagan appointee had signaled during a Wednesday hearing that he considered them unconstitutional.
“Indeed, it is implausible to imagine each of the fifty United States having their own state immigration policy superseding the powers inherent in the United States as a Nation,” Ezra reiterated in his written ruling.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas and the Texas Civil Rights Project said his decision reaffirmed that immigration laws are not up to the states, while adding that SB 4 would cause widespread racial profiling.
“Texas cannot override the U.S. Constitution and should stop wasting time attempting to do so,” the groups said in a joint statement to The Texas Tribune.
See here for the background and here for an article that came out after the Wednesday hearing. I feel the same way now as I did when the first lawsuit was filed and got a restraining order from the lower court, I’m just more wary of the Fifth Circuit. Their ruling in the previous suit was due to their belief that the plaintiffs lacked standing; they did not rule on the merits. We’ll see what they cook up this time around. Have I mentioned that the Fifth Circuit needs to be razed as part of broader court reform at the first opportunity? Here it is again. The Chron has more.