Judge extends order blocking Texas state troopers from stopping migrant transports

EL PASO, Texas — A federal judge on Friday extended a temporary restraining order that blocks Texas from having state troopers stop vehicles carrying migrants on the grounds that they may spread Covid-19.

The ruling came from U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone of El Paso as part of a Biden administration lawsuit against Republican Gov. Greg Abbott over the plan, which the U.S. Justice Department said illegally interferes with the federal government's sole responsibility to administer immigration policy.

Abbott had authorized Texas’ growing presence of state troopers along the U.S.-Mexico border to “stop any vehicle upon reasonable suspicion” that it transports migrants. Troopers could then reroute vehicles back to their point of origin or impound them. Civil rights groups and immigration advocates had expressed concerns that the directive to troopers could invite racial profiling.

Federal judge in El Paso extends temporary restraining order blocking @GovAbbott’s executive order restricting migrant travel in the state.

— Angela Kocherga (@AngelaKBorder) August 13, 2021