Judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments Wednesday in a case challenging a new immigration law in Texas that would allow police to arrest migrants who illegally cross into the U.S. from Mexico.
The case will be heard at 10 a.m. CT by Chief Judge Priscilla Richman and Judges Andrew S. Oldham and Irma Carrillo Ramirez. Richman was appointed by George W. Bush, and Oldham by Donald Trump, while Ramirez was appointed by President Joe Biden.
In a brief order late Tuesday night, the three-judge panel ruled 2-1 that the measure, known as Senate Bill 4, should be temporarily blocked while the judges hear the case. Richman and Ramirez voted to block the law, while Oldham voted for it to remain in effect.
Earlier Tuesday, the Supreme Court said that it could take effect.
The law, which Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed in December, would allow police officers to arrest migrants and impose criminal penalties. It would also empower state judges to order the deportation of people to Mexico.
In a statement after the Supreme Court’s order Tuesday but before the law was put on pause by the appeals court, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the Texas law “harmful and unconstitutional.”
“S.B. 4 will not only make communities in Texas less safe, it will also burden law enforcement, and sow chaos and confusion at our southern border,” she said. “S.B. 4 is just another example of Republican officials politicizing the border while blocking real solutions.”
The Department of Justice sued the state of Texas in early January challenging the new law, asserting that the U.S. Constitution gives the federal government the authority to regulate and control immigration and international borders.
“Under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution and longstanding Supreme Court precedent, states cannot adopt immigration laws that interfere with the framework enacted by Congress,” Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said in a statement at the time. “The Justice Department will continue to fulfill its responsibility to uphold the Constitution and enforce federal law.”
