Appeals Court Extends Block on Texas Arrests of Illegal Immigrants

These plaintiffs argued that the state law infringed upon the federal government’s exclusive jurisdiction over immigration matters.

In an aerial view, immigrants wait for transport and processing after crossing the U.S.–Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, on March 13, 2024. John Moore/Getty Images

A divided appeals court has upheld a preliminary injunction against the State of Texas, continuing to stall the enforcement of Senate Bill 4 (S.B. 4), a state law targeting illegal immigration that allows the state to arrest and deport suspected illegal immigrants.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit’s decision, in which one member of the three-judge panel dissented, follows conflicting rulings over the law that the Supreme Court briefly allowed to take effect last week.