Greg Abbott’s Preparing for Supreme Court Border Fight

Texas Governor Greg Abbott says a federal judge’s ruling delaying the implementation of a new state law will not deter his efforts, alluding to a legal battle reaching the U.S. Supreme Court.

Abbott and Texas Republicans took a legal hit on Thursday when Judge David Ezra ruled on behalf of multiple civil rights groups who sued Abbott and Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McGraw in December. The lawsuit, later consolidated with another suit filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ), prevents Senate Bill 4 from going into effect on March 5.

The bill was approved by an 88-4 voting margin by Texas senators and would have permitted local and state law enforcement to arrest, detain and remove individuals suspected of entering the state illegally from other countries. The decision came on the same day that President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump both are in Texas to address national concerns regarding illegal migrants entering the country.

Abbott’s office referred Newsweek to the following statement made by the governor, providing no additional remarks:

“Texas will immediately appeal this decision, and we will not back down in our fight to protect our state—and our nation—from President Biden’s border crisis,” Abbott said. “The president of the United States has a constitutional duty to enforce federal laws protecting States, including laws already on the books that mandate the detention of illegal immigrants.

“Texas has the right to defend itself because of President Biden’s ongoing failure to fulfill his duty to protect our state from the invasion at our southern border. Even from the bench, this district judge acknowledged that this case will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Ezra said in his 114-page decision that granting Texas authority to supersede federal law and authority “could open the door” for other states to enact similar legislation, resulting in what may result as “a patchwork of inconsistent regulations” antithetical to the Constitution and continually rejected on legal grounds dating back to the Civil War.

The judge notes in his ruling that the Supreme Court has long since clarified that “legislative control of municipalities, no less than other state power, lies within the scope of relevant limitations imposed by the United States Constitution.”

He also referred to more than a century’s worth of Supreme Court cases, in which “the authority to control immigration—to admit or exclude [noncitizens]—is vested solely in the federal government.”

LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) President Domingo Garcia said in a statement shared with Newsweek that Abbott is playing a “phony” game of Texas Hold ‘Em, and that “hot air” is emanating from Austin.

LULAC is the country’s oldest and largest Latino civil rights organization.

Texas’ southern border crossings increased from 1.05 million in fiscal year 2021 to 1.33 million and 1.31 million in fiscal years 2022 and 2023, according to federal data. Between October and January of the current fiscal year, there have been about 448,800 illegal encounters.

Iliana Holguin, county commissioner of Precinct 3 in El Paso County, said in a statement shared with Newsweek that the ruling should lead to a “piecemeal approach from individual states on federal matters,” lessening any undue burdens on American taxpayers and potential violations of civil rights laws.

Aron Thorn, senior attorney with the Beyond Borders Program at the Texas Civil Rights Project, said in a statement shared with Newsweek that the ruling “is a major step” towards showing that Texas’ efforts are unconstitutional.

“While this is only the first step in abolishing the law, people across the state can breathe a sigh of relief knowing they will not be needlessly arrested or deported by Texas under S.B. 4,” Thorn said.