Federal lawsuit against Texas over SB 4 likely to go to SCOTUS, expert says
AUSTIN, Texas - A Dallas constitutional law expert predicts the U.S. Supreme Court will eventually have to decide the new federal lawsuit the Biden Administration filed against the state of Texas.
The federal lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Austin. It’s an attempt by the Biden administration to strike down SB 4, which is set to take effect in March.
The new law makes it a state crime for undocumented migrants to cross the border between ports of entry. It is based on existing trespass laws. The first offense is a Class B Misdemeanor, which increases to a Felony for repeat offenders. Migrants can avoid a jail sentence, and get charges dropped, if they accept a ride back to a border bridge and return to Mexico.
Constitutional law expert David Coale, with the Dallas Law Firm Lynn, Pinker, Hurst, & Schwegmann, told FOX 7 this US v Texas legal battle reboots the 2012 Supreme Court ruling that struck down an Arizona deportation law.
"This one is the clearest challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court's reasoning in the United States v. Arizona that we've seen in a while," said Coale.
Gov. Greg Abbott spoke about the border battle Thursday morning during appearances on FOX News. Abbott said the Biden Administration's border policy is destroying the country.
"We are actually involved in three legal actions with the Biden administration right now, where the Biden administration is trying to stop Texas from denying illegal entry into the country. Here's the point. If the Biden administration would put that time into securing the border, as opposed to stopping Texas from securing the border, then we wouldn't have a problem whatsoever," said Gov. Abbott.
This new fight, according to Coale, is ultimately a question of history.
"Is it something that states have always been able to do, or is it part of the limited set of powers that were given exclusively to the federal government in the Constitution," said Coale.
The law really isn't a deportation law, in the traditional sense of the law. SB 4 allows a judge to give the undocumented migrant who is caught an option, go back to the border bridge or go to jail.
"That's an interesting question. I mean, it also is a wrinkle that isn't in the Supreme Court guidance we have on this," said Coale.
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An interpretation wrinkle in Trespassing Law that may provide wiggle room and a loophole for the state.
"That's certainly what Texas is arguing. I think the federal government's position is that the entire process of sending somebody out of the US is inherently federal because it has to be, at every step of the way, from when you first get someone in the pipeline to when you give them options to have defenses and hearings," Coale said. "So, there is one national coordinated policy of whether they're right about that is the issue that this case presents. Can the state kind of go right up to that line or get a little bit in that process without invading the area that is exclusively federal under the Constitution? So, there's plenty here for the courts to chew on."
In December, several immigration advocates filed a federal lawsuit against the Texas law. That case could be rolled into the lawsuit filed Wednesday by the Justice Department.
Coale expects the administration will likely win the initial court fight here in Austin. That will set in motion a trip to the supreme court. What's uncertain is whether the federal courts will allow SB 4 to take effect in March, or if a restraining order will be allowed, blocking enforcement.