Justice Samuel Alito extended a temporary freeze on a decision that would have allowed Texas’ law enabling local police to arrest illegal migrants to take effect.
The Biden administration asked the Supreme Court earlier this month to prevent the law, SB 4, from taking effect, claiming it would “create chaos in the United States’ efforts to administer federal immigration laws in Texas.” In response, Alito issued an administrative stay to consider the request, which he extended in a Tuesday order through March 18.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the law in response to record amounts of illegal crossings, but the Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Texas to prevent its enforcement in January.
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 07: United States Supreme Court (front row L-R) Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, Associate Justice Samuel Alito, and Associate Justice Elena Kagan, (back row L-R) Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson pose for their official portrait at the East Conference Room of the Supreme Court building on October 7, 2022 in Washington, DC. The Supreme Court has begun a new term after Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was officially added to the bench in September. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO – FEBRUARY 01: Seen from an aerial view, immigrants walk towards the U.S.-Mexico border wall after crossing the Rio Grande into El Paso, Texas on February 01, 2024 from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. They had also passed through razor wire set by Texas National Guard troops in order to proceed for processing by U.S. Border Patrol agents. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO – FEBRUARY 01: Seen from an aerial view, people pass through razor wire after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border into El Paso, Texas on February 01, 2024 from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. After crossing the Rio Grande, immigrants must pass through the wire, set by Texas National Guard troops, before they are allowed to proceed for processing by U.S. Border Patrol agents. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
“The State’s injury is even sharper than usual here, moreover, because Texas is the nation’s first-line defense against transnational violence and has been forced to deal with the deadly consequences of the federal government’s inability or unwillingness to protect the border,” Texas said in a filing Monday night. (RELATED: ‘Doesn’t Have A Clue’: Texas Lt Gov Dan Patrick Rips Biden’s Border Guidance, Lays Out What State Would Do)
Texas continues border wall construction in Maverick County.
Until President Biden steps up and does his job as Commander-in-Chief, Texas will build border barriers to keep our country safe. pic.twitter.com/8NDffrLgKf
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) March 10, 2024
“Governor Abbott—acting as the ‘Commander-in-Chief of the military forces of the State’ of Texas, Tex. Const. art. IV, §4—has invoked Texas’s power to defend itself against transnational cartels engaged in terrorism, human trafficking, and fentanyl and weapons smuggling,” the filing continues. “What is more, cartels intentionally exploit vulnerable immigration policies and lapses in federal immigration enforcement for their financial gai —as President Biden recognized, ‘people pay these smugglers $8,000 to get across the border’ because the consequences for illegally crossing the border can be relatively non-existent.”
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 18: Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito attend a private ceremony for retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor before public repose in the Great Hall at the Supreme Court on December 18, 2023 in Washington, DC. O’Connor, the first woman appointed to be a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, died at 93 on December 1. (Photo by Jacquelyn Martin-Pool/Getty Images)
A federal judge first halted the law on Feb. 29, but the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals paused the ruling, prompting the Biden administration’s appeal.
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