US Supreme Court won't halt Texas law on illegal border crossings

 

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to block a Republican-backed Texas law allowing state law enforcement authorities to arrest people suspected of crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, rejecting a request by President Joe Biden's administration.

The administration had asked the justices to freeze a judicial order allowing the Texas law to take effect while the U.S. government's challenge to the statute proceeds in the lower courts. The administration has argued that the law violates the U.S. Constitution and federal law by interfering with the U.S. government's power to regulate immigration. 

The Texas law made illegal entry or re-entry into Texas a state crime, with penalties ranging from 180 days in jail to 20 years in prison. Under it, Texas magistrate judges will be required to order migrants to return to Mexico, with up to 20-year sentences for those who refuse to comply.

The Justice Department sued in January to block the measure, which was originally set to take effect on March 5. Biden administration lawyers argued that it violates federal law and constitutional provisions giving the U.S. government the power to regulate commerce with foreign countries and among states, and runs afoul of a 2012 Supreme Court precedent...more