A federal court has temporarily halted enforcement of major components of Texas legislation that would have granted state authorities the ability to detain and remove individuals suspected of unauthorized border crossings.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge David Ezra in Austin granted a temporary restraining order requested by the American Civil Liberties Union and allied organizations representing thousands of individuals who would have fallen under the law’s scope.
Judge Ezra, a Reagan appointee, determined that the state legislation violated federal supremacy and inappropriately encroached upon the federal government’s established authority over immigration matters and deportation procedures.
“At the broadest level, SB 4 conflicts with federal immigration law because it provides state officials the power to enforce federal law without federal supervision,” Ezra wrote.
Representatives for Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose office is defending the law, did not respond to requests for comment.
The legal challenge was initiated last week to stop portions of the 2023 legislation from becoming active, following an April decision by a federal appeals court that reversed a previous injunction from the Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration that had blocked the Republican-supported measure known as SB 4.
Republican President Donald Trump’s administration had abandoned a legal challenge that the Biden administration had brought against the law. Immigration advocacy groups that had also filed suit continued their efforts, but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined the organizations did not have proper legal standing for their case.
The new ACLU-supported legal action aimed to resolve that problem by filing on behalf of noncitizens who would face the law’s four primary requirements, scheduled to become effective Friday.
These requirements include provisions that would criminalize under state law someone’s reentry to the U.S. following deportation, even with federal authorization or after obtaining permanent resident status, and would authorize Texas magistrate judges to issue removal orders.
Legal representatives for the challengers celebrated Ezra’s decision in a collective statement.
“Texas cannot override the U.S. Constitution and should stop wasting time attempting to do so,” they said.
