The United States Supreme Court has backed Texas and will allow the state to begin arresting illegal border crossers.
The SCOTUS will allow Texas to enforce a law that lets state police arrest illegal aliens while litigation in the case continues.
The ruling was handed down Tuesday.
It came just one day after Justice Samuel Alito extended a pause on the law, leaving conservatives puzzled.
Alito had ruled that the law was paused “pending further order” by the court.
The nation didn’t have to wait long, as the court ruled next day that the law could take effect.
The Supreme Court did not uphold the law on the merits.
Instead, it rejected a request from Democrat President Joe Biden to overturn an appeals court order allowing Texas to enforce the law temporarily.
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton applauded the ruling on X.
“As always, it’s my honor to defend Texas and its sovereignty, and to lead us to victory in court,” Paxton said.
The law was signed by Republican Governor Greg Abbott last year.
It was originally set to take effect on March 5, but a federal judge blocked it.
An appeals court then issued an “administrative” pause, allowing Texas to enforce the law temporarily.
The enforcement law led the Biden administration to seek intervention from the Supreme Court.
The Biden administration has accused Texas of overstepping the federal government’s authority on immigration, but the state’s Republican leaders say the federal government has ignored its duty to protect the border, forcing Texas to take matters into its own hands.
The Supreme Court didn’t address the merits of the case.
However, conservative Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh suggested it would be reckless to second-guess the Fifth Circuit’s “stay” order.
The Supreme Court’s three liberal justices wrote fiery dissents accusing the court of sowing “chaos” by upholding an “unconstitutional” law.
SB4 mirrors an Arizona law enacted in 2010, SB 1070, that deputized state police to stop suspected illegal immigrants.
The Supreme Court struck that law down, although the court has moved rightward since then.
The border crisis has become a defining issue for the 2024 election cycle.
The issue has led Biden to blame Republicans for refusing to negotiate on a “border” bill that spends more on funding endless foreign wars than tackling the immigration crisis.
The Supreme Court earlier this year temporarily permitted the Biden administration to remove razor wire that Texas installed at the border.
Texas has been forced to take measures to tackle the crisis while being overwhelmed by record numbers of illegal aliens.
The White House blasted the Supreme Court’s latest immigration order Tuesday.
The Biden admin argues that SB4 represented Republicans “politicizing” the issue.
“S.B. 4 will not only make communities in Texas less safe, it will also burden law enforcement, and sow chaos and confusion at our southern border,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed.
“S.B. 4 is just another example of Republican officials politicizing the border while blocking real solutions.”
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