The U.S. Supreme Court extended a temporary pause on a Texas border security bill on Tuesday that would allow the arrests of migrants who crossed the border unlawfully.
SB 4, which was set to become enforceable on Wednesday, will now remain on pause until at least March 18, according to the Associated Press.
The extension stems from a conjoined lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice Department and the American Civil Liberties Union that claims the law is unconstitutional since immigration law is supposedly meant to be exclusively handled by the federal government.
As The Dallas Express reported, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the bill would be able to take effect unless the high court stepped in. The Biden administration quickly filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court to block the bill, according to CNN.
Justice Samuel Alito extended the pause, which allows the Supreme Court to continue reviewing pertinent information about the law from previous hearings. The extension does not necessarily indicate the justices will choose to hear the case.
The law prompted protests in the state’s capital over the weekend, with activists claiming it would allow law enforcement agents to “stop you because of the color of your skin,” as reported by The Dallas Express.
“It upsets me that legislators in this building behind me knew what they were doing — it’s a violation of the constitution,” said Jessie F. Fuentes of the Eagle Pass Border Coalition over the weekend, per CBS News.
Gov. Greg Abbott has continually pushed back on the claims that the law is unconstitutional, stating in a press release that President Joe Biden has failed to “enforce federal laws protecting States, including laws already on the books that mandate the detention of illegal immigrants.”
“Texas has the right to defend itself because of President Biden’s ongoing failure to fulfill his duty to protect our state from the invasion at our southern border,” continued the governor.
The extension of the temporary pause comes as the state continues to deal with a massive influx of unlawful crossings since 2021.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has reported more than 7.5 million encounters with unlawful migrants during this period, with the House Homeland Security Committee also reporting more than 1.8 million “gotaways.”
Texas has attempted to manage the high number of crossings through Operation Lone Star, a joint initiative between the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department.
Since the operation began in March 2021, more than 503,800 unlawful migrants have been apprehended by Texas law enforcement, and over 469 million lethal doses of fentanyl have been seized, according to a press release from Abbott’s office.
While Abbott has touted the high number of arrests and seizures along the border, Operation Lone Star has also come at an expensive price tag of more than $10 billion, according to documents obtained by CBS News Texas.