Supreme Court Lifts Stay on Enforcement of Texas Law Criminalizing Illegal Border-Crossing

The Texas law makes violation of the country's immigration laws a felony, and authorizes Texas state personnel to arrest border-jumpers and sentence them to jail.

The law had been stayed -- blocked from taking effect -- as a lawsuit challenging it works its way through the courts.

The Supreme Court had issued a stay, but now, by a 6-3 majority, cancels that stay and allows the law to be enforced.

Note the case has not been decided yet. This is about whether the law will be blocked from operating or allowed to operate before the case is decided.

There's a tangly history here: the lower court, presided over by a Hawaiian judge, ruled the law unconstitutional, but then the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overruled that judge. Biden appealed to the Supreme Court.

Texas can finally begin to enforce its new state law against illegal immigration -- but not after a head-spinning 24 hours. Late yesterday, CBS News reported that the Supreme Court allowed a stay on enforcement of SB4 to lapse. Within an hour, the court then reinstated its stay, only more broadly -- a signal that the court might look disfavorably on Texas' arguments. Advertisement

But just like that, a 6-3 court lifted its stay, this time for good ... we think. Maybe!

...

Actually, this lifts a stay on another stay. The Fifth Circuit accepted an appeal of a lower-court ruling that rejected the law as an unconstitutional infringement of the Supremacy Clause. They then stayed their own ruling while the Biden administration appealed to the Supreme Court, which extended the stay while it considered the emergency request to vacate the stay. Yesterday, that temporary stay expired, only to have Justice Samuel Alito issue a new stay ... on the stay.

The Hill only quotes the shitlibs who dissented. They claim that enforcing our immigration laws will cause "confusion."

The three liberal justices chastised the majority's decision to put the law into effect.

"Today, the Court invites further chaos and crisis in immigration enforcement," wrote Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Justice Elena Kagan dissented separately.

In defending the law, Texas argued the state has a constitutional right to defend itself and the Biden administration was unwilling or unable to defend the border.

"Plaintiffs urge the Court to rush straight to the merits of their claims," the state responded in court papers. "But these cases do not belong in federal court at all--even apart from the fact that no state court has yet had an opportunity to construe any provision of S.B.4."

posted by Disinformation Expert Ace at 04:40 PM

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