CNN
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The Supreme Court on Monday temporarily suspended enforcement of a controversial Texas immigration law that allows state law enforcement to arrest and detain people suspected of entering the country illegally.
Justice Samuel Alito issued an administrative stay, blocking the law from taking effect until March 13. The suspension will give the court additional time to consider the case, but it does not necessarily indicate which way the court is leaning. (Alito oversees the Federal Circuit that handled the case.)
Hours earlier, the Biden administration and several immigration groups filed an emergency petition with the Supreme Court asking the justices to block enforcement of the law.
Without intervention, the law would have gone into effect on the morning of March 10th. The Justice Department said the legislation would “significantly change the status quo” that has existed between the two countries on immigration for almost 150 years. ”
Senate Bill 4, signed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott in December, protects immigrants against increased racial profiling, detention and deportation attempts by state authorities in Texas, where Latinos make up 40% of the population. This caused immediate concern among the sect.
Last week, a federal judge in Austin, Texas, blocked the state from enforcing the law.
“If allowed to proceed, SB4 could pave the way for states to pass their own immigration laws,” Justice David Alan Ezra wrote.
A federal appeals court over the weekend granted a temporary stay of the lower court's ruling and said the law would go into effect later this week if the Supreme Court does not act.
This article and heading have been updated with additional developments.
