Texas Gov. Greg Abbott suggested Thursday that his administration is preparing to take his border fight to the Supreme Court after a federal judge blocked a law that was set to go into effect this month allowing police to arrest illegal immigrants.
U.S. District Judge David Ezra issued a preliminary injunction to halt the law, set to take effect March 5, while the state attorney general’s office immediately appealed the ruling. His order rebuked Texas’ immigration enforcement efforts, denying claims that there was an invasion at the U.S.–Mexico border due to illegal crossings, while also arguing that it violates the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.
In a statement, the Republican governor told outlets that the decision will be appealed, and Texas “will not back down in our fight to protect our state,” later noting that the case likely will be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Texas has the right to defend itself because of President Biden’s ongoing failure to fulfill his duty to protect our state from the invasion at our southern border,” Mr. Abbott said. “Even from the bench, this district judge acknowledged that this case will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.”
In his order, Judge Ezra, a Reagan appointee, wrote the law would run afoul of federal immigration laws and claimed Texas would then be able to “permanently supersede federal directives“ that would nullify ”federal law and authority.“ That notion, he claimed ”is antithetical to the Constitution and has been unequivocally rejected by federal courts since the Civil War.”
The federal government would “suffer grave irreparable harm” because other states would be inspired to pass similar measures, the order continued. “SB 4 threatens the fundamental notion that the United States must regulate immigration with one voice,” he wrote, referring to the name of the law, which was passed in the Texas Legislature before it was signed by Mr. Abbott.
Opponents have called the Texas law the most dramatic attempt by a state to police immigration since a 2010 Arizona law that opponents derided as the “show me your papers” bill. The U.S. Supreme Court partially struck down the Arizona law, but some Texas Republicans want that ruling to get a second look.
Also in his decision, Judge Ezra wrote that the Texas law was preempted by the decision in the Arizona case, adding that the two laws had “striking similarities.” He also struck down state officials’ claims that large numbers of illegal border crossings constitute an “invasion,” saying calling it such is a novel interpretation of the Constitution’s invasion clause and that allowing the law to stand would be permitting the state to engage in war.
State Republicans who back the law have said it wouldn’t target immigrants already living in the United States because of a two-year statute of limitations on the illegal entry charge and would be enforced only along the state’s border with Mexico.
Civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), as well as other groups in favor of illegal immigration, have opposed the law. “No state has the right to unilaterally decide who gets to be American,” David Donatti, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU of Texas, told the outlet. “Doing so violates the Constitution, undermines human rights, and damages international relations.”
Under the law, state law enforcement officers would be able to arrest illegal immigrants who are suspected of recently crossing the U.S.–Mexico border. They could accept an order to depart the United States or accept a misdemeanor charge, and those who do not leave after being ordered to do so could be charged with a felony if they’re arrested again.
In recent months, Mr. Abbott has been at odds with the Biden administration over the border as he as claimed the federal government has been derelict in its duties to enforce immigration laws. Data has shown that record numbers of illegal aliens have crossed into the United States since President Joe Biden took office in 2021.
The Abbott administration has set up a floating barrier in the Rio Grande, which was blocked by an appeals court, as well as placing razor wire barriers along a section of the U.S.–Mexico border. The Supreme Court earlier this year ruled against the Texas governor, saying that he must allow federal agents to cut the wire.
