Ruling late Tuesday night, a federal appeals court blocked Texas from enforcing its new immigration law, the latest whiplash-inducing legal development over Senate Bill 4, which seeks to give the state a role in arresting and deporting migrants.
The ruling by a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came hours after the U.S. Supreme Court gave Texas permission to enforce the law, which had been struck down as unconstitutional by a federal judge in February, launching a series of appeals that continue.
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The Supreme Court ruling put the matter back before the 5th Circuit Court, which acted quickly to dissolve an order it issued March 2 that temporarily allowed Texas to enforce SB 4.
Still to be decided, however, is Texas’ request for a stay pending appeal, which if granted would let the state enforce SB 4 while the 5th Circuit Court determines if the law is constitutional. Oral arguments on that request will be heard Wednesday morning.
The rollercoaster ride of appellate court rulings has yet to consider the heart of the case – whether Texas properly enacted the law to deal with a crush of migrants at its border with Mexico or usurped the federal government’s authority to handle immigration matters and make foreign policy decisions.
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