Supreme Court Rules In Favor of New Controversial Texas Immigration Law

Texas state officials are now allowed to detain and arrest people solely on suspicion of being here illegally.

On Tuesday the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Texas’ strict immigration law that would grant state officials to detain and arrest people on suspicion of being here illegally.

Senate Bill 4 was signed into law in December by Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott after a record surge of undocumented immigrants came in that month. Before the bill, entering the state illegally was the federal government’s jurisdiction, meaning the state wasn’t involved. Now entering Texas illegally is a state crime and any state official can arrest people solely on suspicion. It also gives the judges the authority to deport them to Mexico.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of keeping the bill for now. The three who dissented, and objected to it were the liberal judges. Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, “The court gives a green light to a law that will upend the longstanding federal-state balance of power and sow chaos”. The Biden administration was denied an emergency request. The request said states have no authority to legislate on immigration because the federal government has sole authority over it. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre states this law, “will not only make communities in Texas less safe. it will also burden law enforcement and sow chaos and confusion at our southern border.”

This dispute is just one of many between the Biden administration and the Texas government over the immigration crisis. Another one was when the court ordered Gov. Abbott and the border patrol to remove razor wire at the border because it was inhumane.

Since they are still battling it out in lower courts, this law is not permanent yet and can still be blocked at a later date. This does not bode well for Texans of Latin descent, seeing as 40% of the population in this state are Latinos. Though Gov. Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton are calling this a win and a “positive development” for Texas.

There will be more hearings and court dates before we get a final decision.

Update- Hours after the ban was lifted, the appeals court has once again blocked the law from going into effect by a 2-1 order. There will be a hearing Wednesday on the matter.