Washington, DC.- Texas legislators “perhaps went too far,” the state’s own attorney general, Aaron Nielson, acknowledged this Wednesday in an appeals court analyzing the legality of the controversial immigration law SB4, which allows the state arrest and deport migrants at the border.
Nielson said at a hearing in a court in New Orleans, Louisiana, that when lawmakers wrote the law they sought to go to “the very edge” of what the U.S. Supreme Court allows states to do.
“Now, to be fair, maybe Texas went too far,” Nielson added during the hearing in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
On March 27, this court rejected Texas’ request to allow its new immigration law, which lends itself to racial discrimination, to take effect while that court examines it.
That ruling allows a lower court decision to remain in effect, blocking the new law from taking effect, which was scheduled for March, while the case is litigated.
The appeals court also heard arguments today about the exclusivity of the federal government in immigration matters.
Immigration law and its application are the exclusive powers of the federal government, and the Texas government has undertaken its own immigration policy, alleging that Joe Biden’s government does not protect the border with Mexico.
Nielson added that, under the Texas Attorney General’s interpretation of the law, migrants subject to a detainer issued by a state (not immigration) court will be turned over to federal authorities for deportation.
It will be then that federal authorities will determine whether these people will be released in the United States pending immigration hearings, or will be deported.
The Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and other groups have called the law unconstitutional and filed lawsuits against Texas.
Other plaintiffs include the ACLU, Texas Civil Rights Project, El Paso County, American Gateways.
However, lawyers for the Texas government argued this Wednesday that the plaintiffs have no valid claim in the case since they are not affected or harmed parties by the law.
“We are going to resist the law,” Fernando García, president of the Border Network for Human Rights that called for protesters in front of the court, told EFE this Wednesday.
“We have gathered delegations from almost the entire state of Texas, we come from El Paso, the Texas Valley, Laredo, Houston,” he added. “We want the elimination of S-B4 and Operation Lone Star.”
This operation (Lone Star, in English) was initiated in 2021 by Governor Abbott when he mobilized units of the Texas National Guard to support border surveillance.