The Texas anti-immigrant law approaches the territory of the Supreme Court. A ruling by the Fifth Circuit of Appeals has annulled the decision of a district court that stopped the entry into force of the controversial rule, which allows anyone to be detained on suspicion of not having papers and initiate the procedures for their expulsion to Mexico. The Fifth Circuit on Saturday granted the Executive seven days to present a new appeal, which would take the case before the constitutional judges. If the Supreme Court does not intervene, the authorities will be able to apply the law from Saturday.
The decision of the court, based in New Orleans, came on Saturday night, two days after federal judge David Ezra stopped the law, known as SB4, arguing that it is unconstitutional. The magistrate assures that the rule proposed by Governor Greg Abbott gives state authorities powers to regulate immigration that are only the responsibility of federal officials. Abbott, a president who has made combating irregular immigration one of his priorities, announced on Friday that they would appeal Ezra's decision to the Fifth Circuit.
Judge Edith Brown Clement, nominated for the Fifth Circuit by President George W. Bush, and the well-dressed Kurt Engelhardt, who came to office thanks to Donald Trump, have agreed with Abbott. Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez, the daughter of braceros and the only Latina to have held one of the seats on the court panel, did not grant the suspension. Ramirez came to this court in December of last year after being proposed to the position by President Joe Biden.
Abbott announced last Thursday that his Government would appeal to the Fifth Circuit. But the governor already has hope placed in the conservative majority that the Constitutional Court has in Washington. “Even from his court, this District Judge admits that this case will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court,” says the president.
The governor signed the law into law in December during an event held on the border with Mexico, an area that has produced record numbers of irregular immigrants in 2023. SB4 makes illegal entry into Texas a crime punishable by up to six months in prison. Repeat offenders, however, are exposed to harsher sentences, which can reach two and even up to 20 years behind bars.
One of the most controversial parts of the law allows state authorities to bring undocumented people before local judges. These robes could then begin the procedures for expulsion from the State of the migrants. These would presumably be sent to Mexico, regardless of whether or not they are Mexican nationals. The Government of that country has flatly and repeatedly rejected SB4. The deportation of migrants by a State is considered unconstitutional by several instances. “Expulsion touches one of the most sensitive foreign affairs considerations in federal policy,” Judge Ezra noted in the ruling that has been reversed.
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