The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a temporary stay on a federal judge’s decision to put Texas’ law allowing police to arrest illegal immigrants on hold.
The new ruling will remain in effect unless the Supreme Court takes action by March 9.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) announced the decision on X, writing, “BREAKING HUGE NEWS,” adding, “Federal appeals court allows Texas immigration law to take effect. Law enforcement officers in Texas are now authorized to arrest & jail any illegal immigrants crossing the border.”
“Obviously this is the case unless the Supreme Court intervenes by March 9,” Abbott noted.
Last week, U.S. District Judge David Ezra wrote that allowing Texas to “permanently supersede [federal] directives on the basis of an invasion would amount to nullification of fed law & authority—a notion that is antithetical to the Constitution & has been unequivocally rejected by courts since the Civil War.”
Following the preliminary injunction, Abbott said in a statement, “Texas will immediately appeal this decision, and we will not back down in our fight to protect our state—and our nation—from President Biden’s border crisis. The President of the United States has a constitutional duty to enforce federal laws protecting States, including laws already on the books that mandate the detention of illegal immigrants.”
“Texas has the right to defend itself because of President Biden’s ongoing failure to fulfill his duty to protect our state from the invasion at our southern border. Even from the bench, this District Judge acknowledged that this case will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.”
