Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Texas Illegal Immigration Law

A Texas National Guard soldier watches over a group of more than 1,000 illegal immigrants who had crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico to Eagle Pass, Texas, on Dec. 18, 2023. John Moore/Getty Images

The U.S. Supreme Court issued an order on March 12 that extends for at least another week its temporary pause on enforcement of Texas’s immigration law, which would have allowed state police to arrest people suspected of crossing the U.S.–Mexico border illegally.

Justice Samuel Alito, who oversees the federal circuit handling the case, issued an administrative stay on March 12, postponing the implementation of Texas Senate Bill 4 until March 18.

The move follows a similar March 4 decision that imposed a temporary freeze on SB4, which was signed into law by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in December 2023 and was set to go into effect on March 5.

Justice Alito’s March 4 order postponed implementation of SB4 until March 13, a move that gave the Supreme Court more time to review the case but, like the March 12 order extending the stay for another week, didn’t give any indication of the court’s ultimate stance on the matter.

Texas lawmakers passed SB4 in a bid to give state and local law enforcement more power to stem the flow of illegal immigrants into the Lone Star State. The bill makes it a criminal offense for anyone who isn’t a U.S. citizen or national to enter the United States anywhere besides a lawful point of entry. It also provides a mechanism for the deportation of offenders while providing civil immunity to law enforcement and other officials who enforce its provisions.

“Four years ago, the United States had the fewest illegal border crossings in decades,” Mr. Abbott, a Republican, said during a Dec. 18, 2023, signing ceremony in Austin. “It was because of four policies put in place by the Trump Administration that led to such a low number of illegal crossings.

“President Biden has eliminated all of those policies and done nothing to halt illegal immigration.”

Mr. Abbott blamed President Joe Biden for rolling back Trump-era policies that helped stem the flow of illegal immigrants across the border, such as the “remain in Mexico” policy that required asylum applicants to wait outside of the United States until their claims were processed.

President Biden and members of his administration have acknowledged the problem of illegal immigration but deny responsibility, blaming the issue on a “broken” immigration system, crime and corruption in countries that people are fleeing in search of better opportunities, and even climate change.

Legal Challenge

Various immigration advocacy groups have opposed SB4, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and the National Immigration Forum.

Soon after Mr. Abbott signed SB4 into law, immigration advocacy groups and El Paso County sued the Texas Department of Public Safety, arguing that the law is unconstitutional and accusing the Texas governor of trying to circumvent federal immigration enforcement authority.

“Governor Abbott’s efforts to circumvent the federal immigration system and deny people the right to due process is not only unconstitutional, but also dangerously prone to error, and will disproportionately harm Black and Brown people regardless of their immigration status,” Anand Balakrishnan, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s Immigrant’s Rights Project, said in a statement.

A federal judge on Feb. 29 temporarily blocked SB4 from going into effect, with U.S. District Court Judge David Ezra ruling that it violated the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause that gives the federal government sole authority to handle immigration-related issues.

Judge Ezra, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, rejected the Lone Star state’s argument that it has the authority to take action to enforce border security in the face of an “invasion” by illegal immigrants.

“Surges in immigration do not constitute an ‘invasion’ within the meaning of the Constitution, nor is Texas engaging in war by enforcing SB4,” he wrote in his order.

“To allow Texas to permanently supersede federal directives on the basis of an invasion would amount to nullification of federal law and authority—a notion that is antithetical to the Constitution and has been unequivocally rejected by federal courts since the Civil War.”

Texas National Guard members prevent illegal immigrants from Venezuela from crossing a barbed wire fence at the El Paso Sector Border after they had crossed the Rio Grande from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on Feb. 29, 2024. Herika Martinez/AFP via Getty Images

An appeals court on March 1 paused Judge Ezra’s ruling that put a temporary hold on the immigration law, opening a pathway for it to go into effect as planned.

However, the New Orleans-based Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed its decision for seven days to give the federal government a chance to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, which the Department of Justice (DOJ) did by filing an application to vacate the stay.

Justice Alito, responding to the DOJ’s plea, paused the appeals court order until March 13, giving Texas more time to present its case. With his March 12 order, Justice Alito has extended that pause until March 18.

Should the Supreme Court ultimately side with Texas, SB4 could take effect on March 18 at 5 p.m. Eastern time.

Trump Calls Open Border a Power Grab

Tensions have been high between Texas and the Biden administration over border security amid record levels of illegal immigrants pouring into the United States.

Some estimates put the number of illegal immigrants who entered the country since President Biden took office at about 10 million.

Illegal immigration has become a key concern among voters this election cycle, with a recent Monmouth University poll revealing that about six in 10 Americans believe that illegal immigration is a “very serious problem.”

That’s a sharp increase from 2015 and 2019, when prior Monmouth polls found that 43 percent and 49 percent, respectively, held that view.

The poll also showed that, for the first time in the survey’s history, a majority of Americans support building a Trump-style wall along the U.S.–Mexico border.

Former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event in his run for the presidency, in Rome, Ga., on March 9, 2024. Elijah Nouvelage/AFP via Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump has accused President Biden of pushing open border policies as part of a cynical bid to expand the Democrat voter base and stay in power for decades.

“Biden and his accomplices want to collapse the American system, nullify the will of the actual American voters, and establish a new base of power that gives them control for generations,” President Trump said during a March 2 rally in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on President Trump’s allegation.