Texas’ immigration law is unconstitutional, appeals court rules

A panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Senate Bill 4, the Texas law giving local police the power to arrest undocumented immigrants, is unconstitutional. (Credit: John Jordan/The Texas Tribune)

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In a late-night ruling Thursday, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals continued to block Texas from enforcing a 2023 immigration law that would allow local police to arrest people they suspect crossed the Texas-Mexico border illegally.

A three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based court handed down a 2-1 ruling that the law, known as Senate Bill 4, conflicts with federal law. The court also reinforced the federal government’s primary role in immigration enforcement.

“For nearly 150 years, the Supreme Court has recognized that the power to control immigration — the entry, admission, and removal of aliens — is exclusively a federal power,” the ruling says.

After the Texas Legislature passed SB 4 in 2023, the Biden administration filed a lawsuit to block it. A U.S. District judge sided with the administration, then Texas appealed that ruling.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration dropped the federal government’s legal challenge to the law. The lawsuit continued, however, because El Paso County and two immigrant rights groups — the Austin-based American Gateways and the El Paso-based Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center — continued with their challenge. The groups are being represented by lawyers from the Texas Civil Rights Project.

The law would make it a state crime to cross the Texas-Mexico border between ports of entry. If a police officer believes they have evidence that a person illegally crossed the Rio Grande, that person could be charged with a Class B misdemeanor, which carries a punishment of up to six months in jail. For subsequent offenses, the person could be charged with a second-degree felony and face up to 20 years in prison.

The law says that if the migrant is convicted and has served their sentence, a judge must order police to transport them to a port of entry for removal from the country. A judge could drop the charges if a migrant voluntarily agrees to return to Mexico

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