Appeals court extends freeze of illegal immigration law in Texas

An appeals court extended, for the umpteenth time, the freeze the law passed by the state Texas that would enable law enforcement to arrest anyone suspected of having entered the country illegally. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued this ruling, with two votes in favor and one against, just one week after temporarily suspending the measure.

The law, known as SB4, would serve to reinforce the fight against illegal immigration that is hitting border states, especially Texas. In recent days, the state witnessed a group of illegal migrants tried to enter the United States acting aggressively against authorities and breaking border wires in El Paso.

The majority of the panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit argues that the rule may violate the Constitution. In the words of Chief Judge Priscilla Richman, "it is unlikely that Texas can step into the shoes of the national sovereign under our Constitution and laws," although she recognizes that the "lack of funding coupled with the lack of political will" caused a "gaping void" in a state that "nobly and admirably some would say, seeks to fill," as reported by CNN.

What would SB4 stipulate?

In the event that the rule signed by the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, is able to come into effect, SB4 would allow border authorities to arrest those who are suspected of having entered the country illegally.

"The goal of Senate Bill 4 is to stem the tide of illegal entry into Texas. [The law] creates a criminal offense for illegal entry into this state from a foreign nation. The law cracks down on repeated attempts to enter Texas by creating the offense of illegal reentry and penalizes offenders with up to 20 years in prison," Abbott said at the time of the signing in December of last year.

The main reason that led the Texas governor to promote and enact SB4 was Joe Biden's "inaction" in confronting and counteracting the crisis that the country is experiencing and that largely affects Texas.

Biden administration boasts of millions of illegals who have entered this term

This new judicial block comes at a time when President Joe Biden boasts of the millions of people who entered the country illegally during his term. Through a statement, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) celebrated that the nation maintains its promise of being a place "of welcome and possibilities" with the processing of more than 10 million pending cases and noted that during fiscal year 2023, they received 10.9 million applications.