The US Supreme Court let Texas start arresting and deporting people who enter the country illegally, refusing to block a new law that the Biden administration says will be an unprecedented intrusion on federal power to set immigration policy.
Over three dissents, the justices rejected the Biden administration’s request to keep the Texas law on hold while a legal fight goes forward at a lower court.
Texas is asserting broad new authority to tackle illegal immigration, making the novel argument that the US Constitution authorizes the state to defend itself against the influx. Texas points to a constitutional provision that lets states engage in war and take other actions when they are “actually invaded.”
