The new law makes it a state misdemeanor to cross the border illegally. Repeat offenders can be charged with more felonies.
The other Supreme Court decision. Fresh off a unanimous decision keeping former President Donald Trump on the Colorado state ballot, the U.S. Supreme Court has told Texas to halt the implementation of its controversial immigration law that gives state officials the power to arrest and deport migrants.
The Texas law had been set to take effect this coming Saturday, reports the Associated Press, thanks to a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that reversed a lower court judge’s opinion blocking the law.
The order issued by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito pushes back the start date of the Texas law to March 13 for the moment. The delay is intended to give the Supreme Court more time to consider whether they’ll let Texas enforce its own immigration policies.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed S.B. 4, the law in question, back in December 2023. The new law makes it a state misdemeanor to cross the border illegally. Repeat offenders can be charged with more felonies. Per the Texas Tribune, the law also requires judges to order convicted illegal border crossers to leave for Mexico and empowers police to dump them off at the border.
Civil liberties groups have been up in arms about Texas trying to chart its own way on immigration.
“Make no mistake: S.B. 4 bypasses federal immigration authority and threatens the integrity of our nation’s constitution and laws,” said the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights groups in a joint statement urging the Supreme Court to block the law. “We have long warned that this law will separate families, lead to racial profiling across the state, and harm people.
