(LibertySociety.com) – The Biden administration and the state of Texas have engaged in multiple legal battles since the onset of the crisis at the southern border. Most recently, the federal government challenged a new Texas law that would allow the arrest of illegal migrants who cross the southern border into the state. The challenge was working its way through the courts when the Biden administration appealed to the Supreme Court to temporarily stay the law. The Court initially ruled in favor of the federal government but lifted the stay on March 19, kicking it back to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The lower court then blocked the implementation of the law almost immediately.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott vowed to continue allowing the state’s Department of Public Safety (DPS) to arrest illegal migrants coming into the state. He argued that they did not need the new law to make the arrests. On March 26, the Fifth Circuit denied a request by Texas to suspend the lower court’s order that deemed the new law unconstitutional. The appeals court will hear arguments on April 3 to determine whether the law should be upheld. The Biden administration believes that the law conflicts with federal immigration laws and has argued that its implementation would put law enforcement at risk and would cause chaos at the border.
If upheld, the law would allow state charges to be filed against illegal migrants who enter the state from Mexico without going through one of the ports of entry. Federal law already prohibits such activity, but Abbott has said that the Biden administration is not following the nation’s laws. Judges would also be allowed to deport illegal migrants to Mexico instead of pursuing charges. Another lawsuit filed against Texas over its installation of fencing and razor wire is still making its way through the courts. The Supreme Court weighed in on that case as well, ruling that the federal government could cut through the barriers while the matter was still being decided in the lower court. Following that decision, Abbott said that the Constitution allowed him to protect the state from invasion when the federal government failed to do so.
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