Supreme Court extends freeze on controversial Texas immigration law

Originally Published: 12 MAR 24 10:44 ET

By John Fritze and Devan Cole, CNN

(CNN) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended a temporary freeze on the enforcement of Texas’ controversial immigration law that allows state law enforcement to arrest and detain people they suspect of entering the country illegally.

Without action from the high court, the Texas law would have gone into effect Wednesday. Now, with the new administrative orders in place, its implementation will remain paused through Monday.

Justice Samuel Alito issued the latest administrative holds, which will give the court additional time to review briefing in the case and do not necessarily signal which way the justices are leaning on the underlying request.

The Biden administration and others filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court on March 4 asking the justices to block enforcement of the law.

Senate Bill 4, signed into law by Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in December, immediately raised concerns among immigration advocates of increased racial profiling as well as detentions and attempted deportations by state authorities in Texas, where Latinos represent 40% of the population.

The Justice Department has argued that the law would “profoundly” alter the status quo “that has existed between the United States and the States in the context of immigration for almost 150 years.”

A federal judge in Austin, Texas, had blocked the state government from implementing the law. But a federal appeals court granted a temporary stay of the lower court’s decision and said it would take effect on March 10 if the Supreme Court didn’t act.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, and other officials told the Supreme Court on Monday that the “Constitution recognizes that Texas has the sovereign right to defend itself from violent transnational cartels that flood the State with fentanyl, weapons, and all manner of brutality.”

The state officials described Texas in court papers as being “the nation’s first-line defense against transnational violence” and said the state has been “forced to deal with the deadly consequences of the federal government’s inability or unwillingness to protect the border.”

The case represents the latest example of the Biden administration turning to the Supreme Court in its ongoing battle with Texas over immigration. Earlier this year, the high court handed a temporary win to the administration when it wiped away a lower-court order that prohibited the federal agents from removing razor wire that Texas officials deployed along part of the US-Mexico border.

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