U.S. appeals court says Texas' migrant deportation law, SB4, can take effect
Source: Houston Chronicle
A U.S. appeals court on Friday appeared to clear the way for an unprecedented Texas law empowering state officials to arrest and deport migrants.
The largely conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the plaintiffs challenging the 2023 law — passed when hundreds of thousands of migrants were crossing into the U.S. each month — do not have standing. The case now heads back to a lower court.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Texas officials plan to begin enforcing the law should it take effect. The measure allows any police officer in the state to arrest migrants they suspect of entering illegally and empowers judges to order their removal. A spokesman for Gov. Greg Abbott said his office was reviewing the decision.
The governor “thanks the Fifth Circuit for reaffirming this common-sense law that helps ensure public safety,” Andrew Mahaleris said. “Texas will not back down from its constitutional right to self-defense.” ....
The Biden administration sued to stop the law in 2024, arguing Texas was seizing immigration enforcement powers long left to the federal government. But the Trump administration pulled out of the case last year, leaving El Paso County and two advocacy groups to carry the legal challenge. Texas state troopers are already assisting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort.
The 5th Circuit wrote in the 10-7 ruling that the law “is enforceable only against aliens illegally present in Texas, not against advocacy organizations or Texas counties,” the opinion said.
Read more: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/sb4-migrant-deportation-law-22224722.php
Another en banc ruling from the 5th Circuit.
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