The U.S. Supreme Court allowed Texas, for now, to enforce SB4, a bill allowing police officers to arrest migrants suspected of illegal entry.

In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court rejected an emergency request by the Biden administration to prevent the bill’s enforcement.

The federal government contends that states have no authority to legislate on immigration.

To be clear, the Supreme Court did not decide the case.

The high court allowed the bill to go into effect while litigation continues in the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“It is a necessary tool to fight this crisis at the southern border with people illegally crossing from Mexico into the United States,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said.

WATCH:

NBC News reports:

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, hailed the court order, calling it “clearly a positive development,” though he acknowledged that the legal battle is not over.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that the law “will not only make communities in Texas less safe, it will also burden law enforcement and sow chaos and confusion at our southern border.”

“The court gives a green light to a law that will upend the longstanding federal-state balance of power and sow chaos,” liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a dissenting opinion. Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson also objected to the decision.

The majority did not explain its reasoning, but one of the conservative justices, Amy Coney Barrett, wrote separately to note that an appeals court has yet to weigh in on the issue.

The Supreme Court’s decision follows a prior ruling to extend the temporary hold on the bill.

Supreme Court Extends Temporary Hold On Texas Law Allowing Police To Arrest Migrants Suspected Of Illegal Entry

"Texas has defeated the Biden Administration’s and ACLU’s emergency motions at the Supreme Court. Our immigration law, SB 4, is now in effect. As always, it’s my honor to defend Texas and its sovereignty, and to lead us to victory in court," Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton commented.

From Bloomberg Law:

The Biden administration has been fighting to overturn the law, arguing that it would be an unprecedented intrusion on federal power to set immigration policy. The statute, known as SB4, would make it a state crime to illegally enter or reenter the US through Texas. The measure would let state judges order some undocumented immigrants to leave the country, tasking Texas law-enforcement officers with ensuring compliance.

Texas is asserting broad new authority to tackle illegal immigration, making the novel argument that the US Constitution authorizes the state to defend itself against the influx of people crossing the border. Texas points to a constitutional provision that lets states engage in war and take other actions when they are “actually invaded.”

As is customary with emergency orders, the Supreme Court as a whole gave no explanation for its split decision earlier Tuesday turning down a request from the Biden administration to keep the law on hold.

But Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh said in a concurring opinion that Supreme Court intervention would have been premature given that the SB4 dispute was still before the 5th Circuit.

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