Fifth Circuit Reinstates Bulk of Texas Immigration Enforcement Law
Fifth Circuit Reinstates Bulk of Texas Immigration Enforcement Law A federal appeals court on Thursday revived most of a Texas law that lets state police arrest and jail migrants suspected of entering
Fifth Circuit Reinstates Bulk of Texas Immigration Enforcement Law
A federal appeals court on Thursday revived most of a Texas law that lets state police arrest and jail migrants suspected of entering the country illegally, handing the state a major win in its long-running fight with the Biden-era Justice Department over who enforces federal immigration law.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit stayed a lower court's injunction against Texas SB 4, a measure signed into law in December 2023 that creates state crimes for illegal entry and re-entry and empowers state judges to order deportations. The panel's majority found that the challengers had not shown a likelihood of success on their claim that the law is preempted by federal statute, allowing the state to begin enforcing the provisions while the appeal proceeds.
U.S. District Judge David Ezra had blocked the law in February, writing that it "threatens the federal government's exclusive authority to regulate immigration" and conflicts with the Constitution's Supremacy Clause. A prior Fifth Circuit panel had let the law briefly take effect before the Supreme Court paused it in March 2024, allowing the case to move forward.
The fight has drawn national attention because it tests how far states can go in policing immigration, an area the Supreme Court has treated as largely reserved to Washington since its 2012 ruling in Arizona v. United States. Civil rights groups and the Mexican government had warned that enforcement could lead to racial profiling and family separations.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton celebrated the ruling, saying the state has the right to defend its borders. The case now returns to the district court for a full trial on the merits, and the plaintiffs are expected to seek en banc review. Watch for whether the full Fifth Circuit or the Supreme Court steps in before enforcement begins.
Primary sources: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · CourtListener docket records
FedKite Wire
Keep Reading
D.C. Federal Judge Issues Opinion in Long-Running NACDL Records Fight With Bureau of Prisons
D.C. Federal Judge Issues Opinion in Long-Running NACDL Records Fight With Bureau of Prisons Judge Jia M. Cobb of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a memorandum opinion and
Inyo County v. Paiute-Shoshone: When a Tribe's Sovereignty Met a County's Subpoena
The 2003 Supreme Court decision that tested the boundaries of tribal sovereign immunity against state investigative power — argued by John D. Kirby.
Qualified Immunity: The Refinement That Never Happened — and Why It Still Matters
Three decades ago, a Cornell law student proposed a functional test for qualified immunity. The Supreme Court still hasn't adopted it. The lower courts are starting to.