A federal appeals court has temporarily halted a federal judge’s decision to block a Texas law allows illegal aliens to be arrested and deported.
Last week, U.S. District Judge David Ezra issued a preliminary injunction to halt enforcement until further proceedings.
However, on Saturday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ruling.
The appeals court has temporarily suspended its order for seven days to allow the federal government to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In December, Governor Greg Abbott (R) signed legislation granting Texas law enforcement the authority to arrest illegal aliens amid Biden’s border invasion.
📍Brownsville
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) December 18, 2023
At the Texas-Mexico border today for a bill signing ceremony that will take #OperationLoneStar to the next level.
Join me LIVE as I sign historic border security legislation into law: https://t.co/rmFb1eHMdK pic.twitter.com/6jZ3qPNWPg
Far-left “civil rights” groups such as the ACLU have filed lawsuits in an attempt to halt Abbott’s new legislation.
Mexico’s radical leftist president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, also threatened to take legal action against the State of Texas over the new law.
According to ABC News, the judge wrote, “Allowing Texas to “permanently supersede federal directives” due to a so-called invasion would “amount to nullification of federal law and authority — a notion that is antithetical to the Constitution and has been unequivocally rejected by federal courts since the Civil War.”
The Texas Tribune reported:
The appeals court also said that it will schedule oral arguments on its next available date. As of Monday, that date hasn’t been announced.
The 5th Circuit ruling came a day after U.S. District Judge David Ezra in Austin blocked Senate Bill 4 from going into effect, saying the law “threatens the fundamental notion that the United States must regulate immigration with one voice.”
Gov. Greg Abbott signed SB 4 in December, marking Texas’ latest attempt to try to deter people from crossing the Rio Grande after several years of historic numbers of migrants arriving at the Texas-Mexico border.
SB 4 seeks to make illegally crossing the border a Class B misdemeanor, carrying a punishment of up to six months in jail. Repeat offenders could face a second-degree felony with a punishment of two to 20 years in prison.
The law also requires state judges to order migrants returned to Mexico if they are convicted; local law enforcement would be responsible for transporting migrants to the border. A judge could drop the charges if a migrant agrees to return to Mexico voluntarily.
Governor Greg Abbott reacted to the good news on X:
BREAKING HUGE NEWS
Federal appeals court allows Texas immigration law to take effect.
Law enforcement officers in Texas are now authorized to arrest & jail any illegal immigrants crossing the border.
Obviously this is the case unless the Supreme Court intervenes by March 9.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) March 4, 2024
