U.S. Supreme Court extends its block on Texas’ ‘show me your papers’ law

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday extended its stay of Texas’ controversial immigration law that would allow local and state law enforcement to arrest people suspected of crossing the border illegally.

The ruling prevents the measure — which civil-rights groups and other critics dubbed the “show me your papers” law — from going into effect until 5 p.m. March 18. The court’s original stay was set to expire March 13.

Tuesday’s order didn’t state why justices extended the block by additional days.

The Supreme Court is considering an application to review a decision by the notoriously conservative New Orleans-based 5th Circuit of Appeals that would have allowed Texas’ Senate Bill 4 to go into effect.

At the heart of the legal dispute is whether the new law violates the federal government’s constitutional ability to carry out immigration enforcement. The groups that sued over the legislation — The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Texas and Texas Civil Rights Project — also argue it would lead to racial profiling and discrimination.

In addition to giving state law enforcement the ability to carry out immigration functions previously only extended to the federal government, S.B. 4 would permit Texas judges to deport those found guilty of being in the country without papers.

“We are pleased that SB 4 remains on hold and will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that this law is struck down once and for all,” said Anand Balakrishnan, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, in an emailed statement.

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This article appears in Mar 6-19, 2024.