Supreme Court continues pause on stringent new Texas immigration law

March 12 (UPI) -- Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito placed the latest hold on a Texas law that would allow the state to arrest and prosecute individuals for allegedly crossing the border illegally.

Federal officials argue that any immigration enforcement role is theirs and does not belong to the states.

Last year, Texas lawmakers passed Senate Bill 4, arguing that border crossings from Mexico amounted to an invasion. Opponents pushed back, saying immigration is a function of the federal government and the new Texas law increases the prospect of racial profiling and other human-rights violations.

Alito said the pause would give Supreme Court justices more time to review a brief filed by the Biden administration asking that enforcement of the law be blocked and did not indicate any opinion by them.

The Texas law was supposed to have gone into effect March 5 but U.S. District Judge David Ezra temporarily blocked it, calling it likely unconstitutional because it conflicts with federal law.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, backed by Gov. Greg Abbott, said the Constitution supports a state's right to defend itself from what they said are cartels flooding the state with drugs and human trafficking.

Ezra rejected Paxton's description of border crossings as akin to an invasion.

Paxton appealed Ezra's decision to the conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has set a hearing in April.