The chaos and confusion surrounding the hastily introduced and controversial anti-immigrant legislation in Texas, SB4, grew Tuesday night when a federal court blocked the implementation of the legislation after the Supreme Court of Justice had paved the way to enforce it.
A Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals panel issued before midnight Tuesday again to temporarily put the law on hold.
They’re decision capped 48 hours of conflicting court decisions that could be resolved in the coming days.
On Monday, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito put on hold indefinitely the legislation, which allows Texas authorities to indiscriminately detain and deport both immigrants who have entered illegally to Texas or those who appear to be undocumented.
But less than 24 hours later, the court’s conservative majority determined that the legislation could go into effect, pending legal proceedings on whether or not it is constitutional, in the appeals court. The three liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson opposed the court’s majority decision.
However, a few hours after the Supreme Court’s decision, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals based in New Orleans, one of the most conservative judiciaries in the United States, decided to temporarily block start of SB4 to hear further arguments of the case.
President Biden’s administration condemned the possible enforcement of the law and reiterated that it has the exclusive right to define US immigration policy.
At the same time, the Mexican government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, made it clear that if the legislation comes into law, “under no circumstances” will it accept the repatriation of migrants to its territory if they are sent from Texas.
