A federal appeals court will hear arguments Wednesday over whether to allow Texas to temporarily enforce its controversial law that allows state officials to arrest and detain people they suspect of entering the country illegally.
The hearing comes one day after the Supreme Court cleared the way for the measure to take effect, only for it then to be blocked by the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals late Tuesday night.
The law, SB 4, is part of the ongoing battle between Texas and the Biden administration over border policy and the flow of migrants into the United States. Immigration enforcement, generally, is a responsibility of the federal government, but the law signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in December makes entering Texas illegally a state crime and allows state judges to order immigrants to be deported.
The law was initially challenged by the Biden administration, a pair of immigration advocacy groups and El Paso County, all of which have stressed throughout the litigation that the entry and removal of migrants has long been within the federal government’s bailiwick.
For its part, Texas has argued that SB 4 “comports with federal law” and claims that “states generally enjoy wide latitude to regulate alien misconduct and prosecute crimes involving illegal entry.”
The virtual oral arguments are set to begin at 11 a.m. ET.
The 5th Circuit will be considering a request by Texas officials to temporarily undo a federal judge’s ruling that suspended enforcement of SB 4. If they grant the so-called stay pending appeal, state officials would be allowed to enforce the law while the circuit considers Texas’ larger appeal of the preliminary injunction issued by the lower court.
Arguments in that appeal are scheduled for April 3.
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