The Texas state law which provides for criminal offenses in the event of illegal entry into the territory and the possibility for Texan authorities to expel migrants to Mexico suspended by a federal appeals court.
A decision rendered late Tuesday evening by the United Court of Appeals temporarily suspended – once again – the application of a Texas immigration law. Earlier in the day, the United States Supreme Court authorized its entry into force based exclusively on procedural criteria, without ruling on the merits of the law.
Signed in December by Republican Governor Greg Abbott, declared support of Donald Trump, creates a “criminal offense of illegal entry in Texas“from abroad, liable to six months in prison, and up to twenty years in the event of a repeat offense.
“Harmful and unconstitutional law“
The White House deplored the Supreme Court’s decision in a statement.allowing harmful and unconstitutional Texas law to take effect“.
Before the suspension pronounced by the court of appeal, the three progressive judges of the Supreme Court who had validated the law had dissociated themselves from the decision taken by the six other conservative judges. The courtyard “should have taken into consideration the constitutionality and irreparable damage caused by the law before allowing it to come into force“, wrote one of them, Sonia Sotomayor.
The law, which gives state authorities the power to arrest migrants and deport them to Mexico, is also challenged by the Justice Department.
Its suspension reinstates the injunction issued in February by District Judge David Ezra, who criticized the law on several fronts. His 114-page opinion brushed aside Republican assertions that there was a “invasion” along the southern border due to record numbers of illegal crossings. Mr. Ezra, who was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan, also warned that the law could hamper states’ foreign relations -United.
On Tuesday, Mexico’s foreign ministry said via a statement that it would refuse to take back anyone ordered to cross the border. “Mexico reaffirms its legitimate right to protect the rights of its nationals in the United States and to determine its own entry policies“, the government said.
Arrests for illegal border crossings down in Texas
Arrests for illegal border crossings fell by half in January, compared to a record 250,000 in December, with a sharp drop in Texas. Arrests in the Border Patrol’s Del Rio sector, where Abbott’s effort is focused, fell 76 percent from December. The Rio Grande Valley, the busiest corridor for illegal crossings for most of the past decade, recorded its lowest number of arrests since June 2020.
Tucson, Arizona, has been the busiest corridor in recent months, followed by San Diego in January, but the reasons for these sudden changes are often complicated and driven by smuggling organizations.
When President Joe Biden visited the Rio Grande Valley for his second trip to the border as president last month, administration officials attributed the drop in arrests to Mexico, which had tightened its measures law enforcement in this part of the border. They said conditions were more difficult for Mexican law enforcement in Sonora, the state south of Arizona.