The Supreme Court has halted Texas from enacting a state law scheduled to commence on Monday.

This law would have empowered state police to apprehend immigrants on state charges, rather than federal charges, if they unlawfully crossed into the United States from Mexico.

On Monday evening, the court upheld a temporary hold that was first imposed on March 4, a fortnight prior to the law’s anticipated commencement.

“Upon further consideration of the application of counsel for the applicants, the response, and the reply filed thereto, it is ordered that the stay issued on March 4, 2024, is hereby extended pending further order of the undersigned or of the Court,” Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Samuel A. Alito, Jr., wrote in the order.

In December 2023, S.B. 4 was signed into law, granting state police the authority to arrest individuals on immigration charges—a power previously exclusive to federal law enforcement, as immigration violations fall under federal jurisdiction, not state law, the Washington Examiner reported.

Furthermore, the legislation enables local judges to issue deportation orders for individuals in custody, directing them to be removed from the United States.

Written by B.C. Begley