U.S. appeals court extends hold on Texas immigration law

March 27 (UPI) -- A federal appeals court panel voted 2-1 on Wednesday to keep a hold in place blocking a Texas immigration law from going into effect as it continues to be litigated.

The three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans issued the decision overnight on Senate Bill 4, which would allow Texas state and local law authorities to arrest, detain and deport alleged undocumented people in the state.

Appeals Court Judge Pricilla Richman wrote that the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that immigration is a function of the federal government and not the state. The panel has set a hearing for April 3 but Texas in the meantime can ask the U.S. Supreme Court to remove the temporary hold.

While Richman and Irma Carillo Ramirez voted to keep the ban in place, Judge Andrew Oldham voted to end it, saying Texas must have some power to protect its borders regardless of concerns over how the law would be enforced.

"Texas can do nothing because Congress apparently did everything, yet federal non-enforcement means Congress's everything is nothing," Oldman said, according to NBC News.

The Biden administration has accused Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and state backers of using immigrants as pawns to score political points while it raised the possibility of racial profiling. Abbott, in turn, said Texas was being overrun by people crossing the border with little to no help to slow or stop the tide from the government.