Texas Immigration Law Blocked by Appeals Court Pending Hearing
The Facts
Late Tuesday, the Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to lift an administrative stay and prevent Texas from enforcing, while under appeal, the state's law permitting officials to detain and prosecute migrants who illegally cross the Southern border. The appeals court was set to hold a hearing about the law Wednesday.
Previously on Tuesday, the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) had sided with Texas, allowing the state to enforce the law despite one day earlier extending the administrative stay pausing the law on administrative grounds.
The Spin
Democratic narrative
It's a no-brainer that only the federal government has the powers over immigration policy and it's illogical for Texas's Republican government to upend this. Thinking that SCOTUS would upend federal responsibilities was a miscalculation by the Lone Star State.
Republican narrative
Border control and immigration are areas over which both the federal and state governments have responsibilities and powers. It's the Biden administration's failure to tackle the situation along the Southern border that's caused this situation — Texas has every right to assume immigration duties.
