Posted on 03/20/2024 6:10:31 AM PDT by Red Badger
Hours after the Supreme Court gave Texas officials permission to jail and prosecute migrants suspected of crossing the U.S. southern border without authorization, an appeals court late Tuesday blocked the state from enforcing its controversial immigration law known as SB4.
In a late-night order, a 5th Circuit Court of Appeals panel dissolved a pause that it issued in early March to suspend a lower court ruling that found SB4 to be unconstitutional.
The order reinstated a ruling from U.S. District Court Judge David Ezra, who concluded in late February that SB4 conflicted with federal immigration laws and the Constitution.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Supreme Court denied a request from the Justice Department to void the initial 5th Circuit order that had paused Ezra's ruling. The high court allowed SB4 to take effect for several hours, though it's unclear whether Texas arrested any migrants under the law during that short time span.
Ezra's order blocking SB4 will stay in place until the 5th Circuit rules on Texas' request to allow the law to be enforced while the appeals court considers its legality. A virtual hearing on that question is scheduled for Wednesday morning.
Passed by the Texas legislature last year, SB4 criminalizes unauthorized migration at the state level, making the act of entering the U.S. outside of a port of entry — already a federal offense — into a state crime. It also creates a state felony charge for illegal reentry.
SB4 empowers law enforcement officials in Texas, at the state and local level, to detain and prosecute migrants on these new criminal charges. It also grants state judges the power to require migrants to return to Mexico as an alternative to prosecution.
The Justice Department has said SB4 conflicts with federal law and the Constitution, noting that immigration enforcement, including arrests and deportations, have long been a federal responsibility. It has also argued the measure harms relations with the Mexican government, which has denounced SB4 as "anti-immigrant" and vowed to reject migrants returned by the state of Texas.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has positioned himself as the leading state critic of President Biden's border policies, has portrayed SB4 as a necessary measure to discourage migrants from crossing the Rio Grande, arguing the federal government has not done enough to deter illegal immigration.
Over the past three years, Texas has mounted the most aggressive state effort yet to challenge the federal government's power over immigration policy, busing tens of thousands of migrants to major, Democratic-led cities, assembling razor wire and buoys along stretches of the border to deter migrant crossings and filing multiple lawsuits against federal immigration programs.
That began with Andrew Jackson (D-TN)......................
Pretty sad how quickly the left started their ta,eover of the nation after folks fled such tyranny, and wanted a nation free from such gov overreach in the first place
They will just refuse to review the case and the Appeals Court decision will stand. Like they did in that case yesterday when the state removed a teenager from the Catholic family who refused to call their son a girl.
The 9th Circuit tried to play games with the Supreme Court.
I expect a major slam from the Supreme Court later this week.
So now the left has changed the meaning of “Supreme”?
No, not at all. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals had issued an Administrative Stay. The Supreme Court refused to lift the say, and nicely directed the 5th CCA to a hear motions for the case in an expeditous manner.
You're kidding! It's post first, read primary and secondary source documents second.
I don’t know why the State of Texas just doesn’t put up “NO TRESPASSING, VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED” signs along the Rio Grande. That hasn’t got a thing to do with miggies or “Bidenskyyyyyyyyyy’s immigration scam”. The Jughead Court of Hawaii can keep their pineapple butts out of it.
No. Watched on Newsmax TV on DirecTV this morning and they had a story concerning this. Best I understood is that the SC only basically did what they did by sending it back to the appellate court to figure out and then they would await what happened after that if another appeal comes in to them from Texas. That is the best I can put it.
The attitude of the staff is a reflection of the attitude of the management. The gooberment is the "management" the rest of the nation is staff. There is chaos and evil in the management and there is the same in the staff. It just gets worse and worse.
It will never happen.
F the lower court, stand with the Supremes. lock the bastards up!
This is what is called an interlocutory appeal. The case is still pending in the district (lower) court.
The district court imposed a temporary injunction to forbid the enforcement of the law while the case is pending. (Or vice versa, it doesn’t matter.) The losing side appealed to the 5th circuit.
The 5th circuit rejected the injunction, but stayed its ruling pending any appeal to the SCOTUS.
The assigned judge at SCOTUS kept the stay. The full court then rejected the stay and told the 5th circuit to grow some balls and go figure it out.
The fifth circuit changed its mind last night and decided to keep the injunction in place while it figures it out.
Doesn't save them much time and effort when the case is returned back to them on appeal, though.
The judge that keeps blocking this... Needs to be impeached, tried for treason, convicted, and executed publicly.
Thnak you for the explanation. Looks like sc didn’t rule for or agaisnt, just handed it back to lower to refine their arguments
The people of Texas have no legal resource? Is that what’s happening?
What happens when you have no legal resource? hmmm?
I didn’t know you could appeal a Supreme Court decision. Isn’t it the final word?
This is so convoluted, I don’t know who is appealing what to whom?...................
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