The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday extended a temporary hold on a Texas immigration law that would allow police officers to arrest migrants suspected of illegal entry.

The order, issued by Justice Samuel Alito, extends a temporary freeze on a lower court decision.

“The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit is considering the measure’s legality, and the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to put the law on hold as the court challenge plays out,” CBS News reports.

“The full court has not yet acted on that request,” the outlet added.

“SCOTUS temporarily halted enforcement of SB 4 but Texas is still using its authority to arrest illegal immigrants for criminal trespass and other violations of law. We continue building the wall, use NG to erect razor wire barriers to repel migrants & buoys remain in river,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday.

WATCH:

CBS News reports:

Passed by the Texas legislature last year, SB4 criminalizes unauthorized migration at the state level, making the act of entering the U.S. outside of a port of entry — already a federal offense — into a state crime. It also creates a felony charge for illegal reentry at the state level.

At the request of the Biden administration, a federal judge last month blocked SB4, finding that the state measure is at odds with federal immigration laws. That ruling was then suspended by the 5th Circuit until Alito paused the appeals court’s order on administrative grounds. Alito’s administrative stay maintains the status quo while the court considers the Justice Department’s request for emergency relief.

SB4 empowers Texas law enforcement officials, at the state and local levels, to stop, jail and prosecute migrants on illegal entry and reentry charges. It also allows Texas judges to order migrants to return to Mexico as an alternative to continuing their prosecution, effectively creating a de facto state deportation system.

The Justice Department has said SB4 conflicts with federal law and the Constitution, noting that immigration enforcement, including arrests and deportations, have long been a federal responsibility. It has also argued the measure harms relations with the Mexican government, which has denounced SB4 as “anti-immigrant” and vowed to reject migrants returned by the state of Texas.

“The Supreme Court has indefinitely BLOCKED Texas from enforcing immigration laws. Infuriating. Looks like Biden’s going to get his way and prevent Texas from protecting itself from invasion—at least for now. SCOTUS’s order states that Texas authorities CANNOT arrest or detain illegal immigrants until the appellate court rules on the matter. This is due to the Biden admin filing emergency appeals forcing the border back open,” journalist Nick Sortor wrote.

“TX Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has fought HARD on this issue for Texans, has argued before the Supreme Court that the ‘Constitution recognizes that Texas has the sovereign right to defend itself from violent transnational cartels that flood the State with fentanyl, weapons, and all manner of brutality,'” Sortor noted.

NBC News noted the law was originally scheduled to go into effect on March 10th.

Per NBC News:

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said in court papers the Texas law is “flatly inconsistent” with Supreme Court precedent dating back 100 years.

Defending the law, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in court papers that the measure complements federal law and that the state should be allowed to enforce it.

The Constitution “recognizes that Texas has the sovereign right to defend itself from violent transnational cartels that flood the state with fentanyl, weapons, and all manner of brutality,” he added.

The city of El Paso and two immigrant rights groups, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and American Gateways, have also challenged the law and had filed their own emergency request at the Supreme Court.

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