The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday to allow a Texas law passed by Republicans that allows authorities to arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border to go into effect, rejecting a request by President Joe Biden’s administration that argued the law would violate the U.S. Constitution, Reuters reported and News.ro.

The Biden administration has argued that the law violates the U.S. Constitution and federal law because it interferes with the Washington government’s authority to regulate immigration.

The administration urgently asked the judges to suspend the injunction that would have allowed the Texas law to take effect while appeals are still pending in lower courts.

The US Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority, and on Tuesday its three liberal justices dissented from their conservative colleagues. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, dissenting from fellow liberal Ketanji Brown Jackson, said the Supreme Court’s decision would lead to “continued chaos and crisis in immigration enforcement.” A separate opinion was also written by judge Olena Kagan from Svoboda.

What Texas law says

Last December, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law known as SB 4 that allows state law enforcement agencies to arrest people suspected of entering the United States illegally, giving local police powers that have long been delegated to the US government. Abbott said at a Dec. 18 press conference that “Biden’s willful inaction has left Texas on its own,” saying the law is needed because of the Biden administration’s failure to enforce federal laws that criminalize illegal entry or re-entry.

The Democratic president’s handling of a record number of immigrants caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border during his presidency has drawn sharp criticism from Republicans. Abbott and other Republicans said Biden should have followed the restrictive policies of former President Donald Trump, their party’s nominee who will again challenge Biden in the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election.

Texas law makes illegal entry or re-entry into Texas a state felony punishable by 180 days to 20 years in prison. Under it, magistrate judges in Texas would be required to order migrants back to Mexico, with a sentence of up to 20 years for those who refuse to comply.

A winding road between the courts

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit in January to block the measure, which was originally scheduled to take effect on March 5. Lawyers for the Biden administration argued that this violates federal law and constitutional provisions that give the US government the power to regulate foreign and interstate commerce, as well as a 2012 Supreme Court precedent.

On February 29, U.S. District Judge David Ezra, based in Texas, ruled in favor of the administration and agreed to preemptively block Texas officials from implementing the law, saying it “threatens the fundamental notion that the United States should regulate immigration with one voice.” “.

But an appeals court in New Orleans stayed Ezra’s decision in a ruling that would have allowed the Texas law to take effect on March 10, prompting the administration to file an emergency request with the Supreme Court.

Justice Samuel Alito, who hears certain emergency cases involving cases from a group of states including Texas, on March 4 put the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling — and therefore the law — on hold, giving the Supreme Court more time to review the case. reason.

Immigration, an extremely sensitive campaign issue

Texas has taken a number of measures to deter people crossing the border illegally as part of Operation Lone Star, including deploying National Guard troops to the border, cordoning off the crossing with barbed wire and installing floating barriers along the Rio Grande.

In February, Republicans scuttled a bipartisan deal in the Senate that would have strengthened border security and tougher immigration laws after Trump pressured members of his own party to reject it.

Biden said the blame for the bill’s failure lay with Republican lawmakers who caved to Trump’s political pressure. The Republican would be concerned that the deal would make him “bad politically,” Biden argued.

Polls in early March showed that many voters are concerned about the situation at the border. Many called it the main issue of the vote.