Biden Secures Victory as US Court Delays Implementation of Texas Border Security Law

A U.S. appeals court has maintained a Republican-backed Texas law on hold that permits state authorities to arrest and prosecute individuals suspected of illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. The Biden administration has argued that this law encroaches on the federal government’s authority.

In a 2-1 decision on Tuesday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans denied Texas’s request to allow the law to take effect while its appeal against a judge’s ruling blocking it is pending at the appellate court.

The law, known as S.B. 4, has become a contentious issue in the broader dispute between Texas and the Biden administration over border security and immigration. It would criminalize illegal entry or re-entry into Texas from a foreign country and give state judges the power to order violators to leave the United States, with potential prison sentences of up to 20 years for those who resist.

The 5th Circuit’s decision is the most recent in a series of rapid rulings on the law. The Supreme Court initially allowed it to take effect last week, but the 5th Circuit panel later reinstated U.S. District Judge David Ezra’s injunction blocking enforcement.

Judge Ezra, based in Austin, referenced a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling involving an Arizona law that prohibited states from adopting immigration enforcement measures that conflict with federal law.

The 5th Circuit panel is set to hear arguments on the state’s appeal on April 3.

The Biden administration’s lawsuit, filed in January, contends that the law violates the U.S. Constitution and federal law by interfering with the federal government’s immigration regulation authority, as well as contravening the 2012 Supreme Court ruling.

The administration emphasizes that immigration falls within the exclusive domain of the federal government and that the Texas law would disrupt the enforcement of intricate U.S. laws governing deportation procedures and the application for asylum and legal status by migrants.

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