The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday, March 19, that Texas enforce a new law allowing state and local police to arrest migrants, for now. The conservative-majority court reportedly rejected an emergency request by the Biden administration, which claimed states have no authority to legislate on immigration, an issue the federal government has sole authority over.
The court ruled that the law can go into effect while litigation continues in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals but could still be blocked at a later date.
The majority did not explain its reasoning, but one of the conservative justices, Amy Coney Barrett, wrote separately to note that an appeals court has yet to weigh in on the issue.
“If a decision does not issue soon, the applicants may return to this court,” she wrote.
Her opinion was joined by Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
The court’s three liberal justices dissented.
“The court gives a green light to a law that will upend the longstanding federal-state balance of power and sow chaos,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote.
Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson also objected to the decision.
The Texas immigration law allows police to arrest migrants who illegally cross the border from Mexico and empowers state judges to order deportations. The dispute is the latest clash between the Biden administration and Texas over immigration enforcement on the U.S.-Mexico border.
A federal judge blocked the law after the Biden administration sued, but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a brief order that it could go into effect March 10 if the Supreme Court declined to intervene. The appeals court has not yet decided whether to grant the federal government’s request to block the law.
The Supreme Court repeatedly blocked the law from taking effect while it considered the federal government’s request.
Tuesday’s ruling wipes away those previous orders.
