Supreme Court extends hold on Texas law giving police powers to arrest migrants who illegally enter US
WASHINGTON − The Supreme Court on Monday indefinitely paused a Texas law that would allow police to arrest migrants accused of crossing into the country illegally.
The decision keeps on hold the law, originally set to go into effect on March 5, while it’s being litigated.
The Supreme Court had previously extended the pause until Monday at 5 p.m. while it considered the Justice Department’s request for intervention. After that deadline passed, the court issued an order keeping the law on hold indefinitely.
The Justice Department told the Supreme Court the law would “create chaos” in its border enforcement.
The department also called the law "flatly inconsistent" with the court's past decisions, which recognized that the power to admit and remove noncitizens lies solely with the federal government.
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But Texas officials said the state is the nation’s “first-line defense against transnational violence” and the law is needed to deal with the “deadly consequences of the federal government’s inability or unwillingness to protect the border.”
The state also argued the Supreme Court didn’t have to intervene because the New Orleans-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit is taking up the issue in April.
In addition to the federal government’s challenge, the law is being fought by El Paso County, Texas, and Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, which provides pro bono legal representation to asylum-seekers and other immigrants in El Paso.
Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott and the legislative authors of the bill say state troopers won’t target longtime residents of Texas but only those suspected of crossing illegally within the border zone. Border community leaders and immigrant advocates say the law will unfairly target their majority-Hispanic communities.
