Texas has won a legal battle to enforce a state law making it a crime to be in the country illegally.
A federal appeals court allowed the law to take effect, permitting state authorities to arrest and jail illegal immigrants.
“Federal appeals court allows Texas immigration law to take effect. Law enforcement officers in Texas are now authorized to arrest & jail any illegal immigrants crossing the border,” U.S. District Judge David Ezra wrote.
BREAKING: The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a block on Senate Bill 4, designed to arrest individuals for illegal border crossing into Texas.
The law, signed by Gov. Abbott, could take effect this weekend unless halted by the Supreme Court.
SB4 makes… pic.twitter.com/i6XIeF12O2
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The law imposes penalties such as jail time for crossing the border illegally and requires convicted illegal immigrants to leave the state.
“If allowed to proceed, SB 4 could open the door to each state passing its own version of immigration laws,” Ezra wrote.
The Biden administration opposed the law, but Texas Governor Abbott vowed to protect the state from the border crisis.
“We will not back down in our fight to protect our state — and our nation — from President Biden’s border crisis,” Abbott said.
Republican officials supported the ruling, asserting the law’s constitutionality and the state’s right to secure its borders.
“In my opinion, the preliminary injunction should not have been granted because the DOJ failed to prove that they were likely to succeed on the merits, and that the implementation of SB4 would have inflicted irreparable harm to the United States — both requisite steps for the issuance of a temporary injunction,” Rep. David Spiller said.
“I believe SB4 is completely constitutional because it is not in conflict with the precedent set in the Arizona v. United States case, it’s not preempted by existing federal immigration law, it’s not in conflict with existing federal immigration law, and Texas has the absolute constitutional right, authority and ability to protect and secure its borders and its sovereignty,” he said.
