{"id":231,"date":"2026-05-30T17:06:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T17:06:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=231"},"modified":"2026-05-30T17:06:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T17:06:56","slug":"appeals-court-revives-texas-immigration-law-allowing-arrests-on-suspicion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=231","title":{"rendered":"Appeals Court Revives Texas Immigration Law Allowing Arrests on Suspicion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Truthout is a vital news source and a living history of political struggle. If you think our work is valuable, <\/span><\/i>support us with a donation<\/span><\/i> of any size.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Read more ICE Agent Arrested in Texas, Charged With Lying About Minneapolis Shooting<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A sweeping 2023 Texas immigration law that lets state authorities arrest and deport people suspected of having illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border can go into effect after a federal appeals court on Friday lifted a lower court\u2019s stoppage of certain provisions.<\/p>\n

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an unpublished order after Attorney General Ken Paxton\u2019s office appealed the lower court\u2019s May 14 injunction, which had blocked most of the law a day before it was set to take effect.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s ruling, which clears the law to take effect in its entirety, is the latest in a dizzying series of seesaw rulings over the fate of the measure known as Senate Bill 4. It comes as part of a lawsuit filed by civil rights groups contending parts of the landmark immigration law are unconstitutional.<\/p>\n

The organizations brought the current lawsuit earlier this month to stop four key sections of Senate Bill 4: the creation of a crime for re-entering the country without authorization, even if a person has since gained legal status; the establishment of magistrates\u2019 authority to order a person\u2019s deportation; the creation of a crime for not complying with a magistrate\u2019s order; and the requirement that magistrates continue a prosecution even if a person has an asylum claim or other pending immigration cases. <\/p>\n

In a joint statement, the groups called the court\u2019s decision \u201cdisappointing and out of step with the Constitution and the unbroken practice of other courts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cS.B. 4 will devastate our communities and families by turning our state\u2019s legal system into an unconstitutional weapon to surveil, harass, and harm Texans based on their perceived immigration status,\u201d the statement read, coming from the ACLU, the ACLU\u2019s Texas chapter and the Texas Civil Rights Project.<\/p>\n

Gov. Greg Abbott celebrated the decision, noting that the ruling had come on the heels of a legal brief from his office defending SB 4.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will keep fighting in the courts, working with President Trump, and doing everything necessary to secure our border and protect Texans,\u201d Abbott wrote on social media.<\/p>\n

The groups argued that the sections involving the state\u2019s judicial system are unconstitutional because they encroach on the federal government\u2019s sole authority over immigration laws. It also challenged the re-entry provision, saying that the law provides no defense for people who had federal permission to enter the country or those who might have pending immigration status. <\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra previously granted the preliminary injunction against these sections of the law. The Reagan appointee had signaled during a Wednesday hearing that he considered them unconstitutional.<\/p>\n

Read more Disability Rights Are at Risk as 7 States Back Case Attacking Key Protections<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIndeed, it is implausible to imagine each of the fifty United States having their own state immigration policy superseding the powers inherent in the United States as a Nation,\u201d Ezra reiterated in his written ruling. <\/p>\n

At the time, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas and the Texas Civil Rights Project said his decision reaffirmed that immigration laws are not up to the states, while adding that SB 4 would cause widespread racial profiling. <\/p>\n

\u201cTexas cannot override the U.S. Constitution and should stop wasting time attempting to do so,\u201d the groups said in a joint statement to The Texas Tribune<\/em>. <\/p>\n

This lawsuit came after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals tossed a previous legal challenge against SB 4, which was brought by immigrants and organizations that work with migrants. But instead of ruling on the constitutionality of the law, the appeals court dismissed that case last month after finding that the plaintiffs did not have standing to sue. <\/p>\n

Texas leaders, which cheered the appeals court\u2019s dismissal as a win for public safety, have insisted that SB 4 is valid because it mirrors federal immigration law. <\/p>\n

In addition, they have argued that Texas has a sovereign right to defend its borders. In 2023 when the law was being proposed, there were record-high illegal border crossings, which officials said amounted to an invasion. Those figures have since dropped drastically. <\/p>\n

During a hearing in Ezra\u2019s court earlier this month, David Bryant with the attorney general\u2019s office didn\u2019t say the state was abandoning the invasion argument despite acknowledging the slower pace of illegal border crossings. Bryant did argue that the case should be dismissed because SB 4 had not taken effect and that Department of Public Safety Director Freeman Martin, the only named defendant in the lawsuit, had not decided how state police would enforce the law. <\/p>\n

In the meantime, DPS and many law enforcement agencies across Texas have already partnered with federal immigration agents through the 287(g) program, including under the task force model that allows officers to question individuals about their immigration status during routine policing work.<\/p>\n

Disclosure: ACLU Texas has been a financial supporter of <\/em>The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune\u2019s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans \u2014 and engages with them \u2014 about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. <\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s \u201cBoard of Peace\u201d Has No Funds for Gaza Reconstruction<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Civil rights groups warn the immigration law could lead to racial profiling and family separations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":230,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nAppeals Court Revives Texas Immigration Law Allowing Arrests on Suspicion - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=231\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Appeals Court Revives Texas Immigration Law Allowing Arrests on Suspicion - Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Civil rights groups warn the immigration law could lead to racial profiling and family separations.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=231\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-30T17:06:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=231#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=231\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"headline\":\"Appeals Court Revives Texas Immigration Law Allowing Arrests on Suspicion\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-30T17:06:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=231\"},\"wordCount\":935,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=231#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/39ef0f26c83518cd19a47083794f8b73.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=231#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=231\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=231\",\"name\":\"Appeals Court Revives Texas Immigration Law Allowing Arrests on Suspicion - 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