Factbox-Biden administration, Texas battling over border policies on multiple fronts
By Daniel Wiessner
(Reuters) -Efforts by Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott to stem a record number of migrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has set off a series of legal battles with the administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat.
Those cases could ultimately determine how much power, if any, states possess to police international borders when they disagree with federal immigration policies.
NEW LAW
The most sweeping effort made by Texas to address illegal migration is a new law known as SB4 that Abbott signed in December, making it a state crime to illegally enter or re-enter Texas from a foreign country. A federal judge on Feb. 29 blocked the law from taking effect, agreeing with the Biden administration and civil rights groups that SB4 would interfere with the federal government's enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.
The law would give state law enforcement the power to arrest and prosecute violators and allows judges to order migrants to leave the U.S., with up to 20-year prison sentences for migrants who refuse to comply. Abbott and many other Republicans have said border states have no choice but to act in the face of alleged failures by Biden to address the increase in border crossings, which have reached record highs in recent years.
Texas will likely appeal the ruling by U.S. District Judge David Ezra blocking SB4, but the state will have to contend with a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling cited by the judge that struck down key provisions of an Arizona immigration law. The court in that 5-3 decision said states cannot make their own laws that interfere with the federal government's ability to enforce U.S. laws.
The Supreme Court has become more conservative since then, so Texas could
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