Supreme Court extends pause again on Texas law allowing state police to arrest immigrants

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito again extended the stay of a Texas law that allows state police to arrest migrants suspected of illegally entering the United States.

This is the second time Alito, who handles emergency matters from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, has stayed the law, known as SB4, passed by the Republican-dominated state legislature.

The stay of the law comes as the court evaluates the Biden Administration's emergency request seeking to block the law for a much longer period. Unlike other stays, the Supreme Court's new provision is for an indefinite time until there is a "further order" from it or the full court.

This Texas legislation, signed by Republican Governor Greg Abbott, opened a major legal conflict between the state and the federal government, which is asking the highest court in the land to block the law permanently.

The Biden Administration, in its order, asserted that the Republican-driven legislature in Texas represents an "unprecedented intrusion into federal immigration enforcement."

"There is no ambiguity in SB4," U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote to the justices. "It is flatly inconsistent with federal law in all its applications, and it is therefore preempted on its face."

Meanwhile, Governor Abbott and Republicans are defending their unprecedented move by accusing the federal government of abandoning its duties at the border.

According to Abbott, Texas is under invasion, and therefore, the U.S. Constitution protects the state's right to defend its borders, even if that means bypassing federal law.

"The federal government has broken the compact between the United States and the States. The Executive Branch of the United States has a constitutional duty to enforce federal laws protecting States, including immigration laws on the books right now," Abbott wrote last January. "President Biden has refused to enforce those laws and has even violated them. The result is that he has smashed records for illegal immigration."

"That is why the Framers included both Article IV, § 4, which promises that the federal government 'shall protect each [State] against invasion,' and Article I, § 10, Clause 3, which acknowledges 'the States' sovereign interest in protecting their borders,'" the governor quoted.