The state of Texas just wants a ruling on SB4. The legal system is apparently criss-crossing itself to not give them one.

As we covered yesterday, the Texas law on immigration enforcement, SB4, has been in legal limbo. Originally, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals would have allowed Texas to implement the law, but the court gave the Biden administration time to appeal to the Supreme Court. At that point, SCOTUS blocked the enforcement of the law, and renewed that block on Monday. Then they changed their mind yesterday, and said the law could be implemented while the legalities played out in the lower courts. Governor Greg Abbott was cautiously optimistic.

BREAKING: In a 6-3 decision SCOTUS allows Texas to begin enforcing SB4 that allows the arrest of illegal immigrants.

We still have to have hearings in the 5th circuit federal court of appeals.

But this is clearly a positive development.

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) March 19, 2024

Now we get a “LOL nevermind” from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

A late-night order Tuesday from a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel put on hold — again — Texas’ dramatic state expansion into border enforcement. Earlier in the day, the U.S. Supreme Court had cleared the way for the strict immigration law, dealing a victory to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and encouraging GOP lawmakers in other states that are pushing for similar measures.

But later in a 2-1 order, an appeals court panel continued the legal seesaw surrounding the Texas law, again pausing it ahead of oral arguments that were scheduled for Wednesday. It was not clear how quickly the next decision might come.

During the short time the law was in effect Tuesday, Texas authorities did not announce any arrests or say whether it was being actively enforced. Along the border in Kinney County, Sheriff Brad Coe embraced the arrest powers but said deputies would need probable cause.

“It is unlikely that observers will see an overnight change,” said Coe, whose county covers a stretch of border near Del Rio that until recently had been the busiest corridor for illegal crossings but has quieted considerably.

The Supreme Court did not rule on the merits of the law. It instead kicked back to the lower appeals court a challenge led by the Justice Department, which has argued that Texas is overstepping the federal government’s authority.

Well, I hope Texas enjoyed all of the hours it was allowed to implement SB4. The state is now back to waiting on the Court of Appeals to rule – and they don’t seem particularly thrilled with the idea.

Judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals appeared unreceptive to arguments by Texas’ solicitor general Wednesday that the state’s new immigration law should take effect because it “mirrors” federal law.

“Texas has a right to defend itself,” state Solicitor General Aaron Nielson said, adding that the district court had acknowledged that “sometimes those associated with the cartels cross over the border with malicious intent.”

The law, which Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed in December, would allow police officers to arrest migrants and impose criminal penalties. It would also empower state judges to order the deportation of people to Mexico.

Chief Judge Priscilla Richman, a George W. Bush appointee, noted that states don’t have police power to remove people from the U.S.

“This is the first time it seems to me that a state has claimed that they had the right to remove illegal aliens,” Richman said.

Nielson responded, “I think that it’s certainly true that a state doesn’t generally have the power to, you know, admit or exclude. But what S.B.4 does here is you get the order from the judge, and the person is taken to the port of entry.”

The Texas solicitor general argued that the state aimed to be consistent with federal law.

“What we’re trying to do is to make sure that Congress, who sets the national immigration laws, that those laws are followed, and to the extent that we can’t enforce federal law, which we’re not claiming to do, we have laws that are the same as that with respect to these important provisions.”

Eventually, this will all come back to the central argument that the Supreme Court will have to decide – is immigration and border enforcement solely the purview of the federal government, and if so, what are states allowed to do when the federal government abdicates its role? No one can reasonably argue that the Biden administration has done a splendid job of border enforcement, unless you are paid to do so (see: Alejandro Mayorkas). Not even Joe Biden thinks the southern border is secure. Nothing is getting better.

EXCLUSIVE: We embedded with ICE deportation officers in the sanctuary city of Los Angeles as they tracked down & arrested several felons in the U.S. illegally, including one who had been released from local custody without notice after ICE’s detainer request was ignored, and… pic.twitter.com/eoHfrbZKZV

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) March 20, 2024

If enforcement of the borders is only something that the federal government can do, then border states must either have recourse or backup to ensure the safety of their citizens. Texas, with SB4, is asking where that line is. The entire exercise of sending planes and buses of illegal migrants out of Texas and into “sanctuary cities” has proved the point. It was totally fine with the self-righteous politicians in non-border blue states to have Texas, or Arizona, or New Mexico, or even California take the wave of illegals right on the proverbial chin. But now that Governor Abbott has made THEM share the pain, the shoe is on the other foot. In order to deal with the situation, states like New York or Illinois are demanding federal money. Texas is demanding the ability to close the holes in the border themselves, and to have the ability to enforce current immigration law. At this point, the courts can’t decide what they want to do, and the Biden administration is hoping the problem just goes away.

The person in a bind here is Joe Biden, who is blindly in thrall to the left on so many issues. If the courts determine that the federal government alone has the power of enforcement and the states are out of luck, then he owns the border crisis completely. No attempt to shift blame to Congress will work, not after so many executive orders that got this all started in the first place, and could be undone the same way. But if the courts give Texas the ability to enforce their immigration law, then Team Biden will have to deal with the backlash from the left, and the inevitable questions of why they didn’t bother doing their job and left it up to the states. Biden is between a rock and a hard place on illegal immigration, and has no strategy except to ignore the whole thing. That might work when it comes to inconvenient granddaughters, but not when it comes to the southern border.

Featured image via succo on Pixabay, cropped, Pixabay license