(NewsNation) — A Texas judge has blocked a controversial law that gave Texas police the authority to arrest people they suspected of illegally crossing the border, a power typically reserved for immigration authorities.
The preliminary injunction granted by U.S. District Judge David Ezra pauses a law that was set to take effect March 5 and comes as President Joe Biden and his likely Republican challenger in November, former President Donald Trump, were visiting Texas’ southern border to discuss immigration. Texas officials are expected to appeal.
The injunction is a victory for the Biden administration in a fight over a law that has faced multiple legal challenges from the administration and civil rights groups.
Senate Bill 4 gave Texas law enforcement the ability to arrest suspected undocumented immigrants and also allowed state judges to order people be sent back across the border to Mexico.
The Biden administration challenged the law on the grounds the Constitution specifically grants the power to police immigration and the border to the federal government, not states. A similar law in Arizona was overturned by the Supreme Court on those grounds in 2012.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott defended the legislation, which was enacted as part of his state’s ongoing efforts to police the border that have often been at odds with federal efforts. Other actions have included the construction of a floating buoy barrier in the Rio Grande, razor wire installations on the border and blocking federal authorities from a park needed to access the border.
Civil rights groups have also opposed the law, calling it unconstitutional and arguing it violates people’s legal right to seek asylum.
Amid high numbers of crossings, the border has continued to be a heated topic of political debate. Republicans have blamed the Biden administration for failing to fix what they call a crisis on the border, while the administration has pointed the finger at Congress for failing to take meaningful action on immigration reform since the 1990s.
Recently, a bipartisan bill in the Senate that would have increased funding for border enforcement and made changes to border policy, including allowing the president to close the border if crossing exceeded a certain threshold, failed to pass.
The compromise fell apart after objections from House Republicans and Trump, who urged Republicans to reject it because it wasn’t “perfect.” Some suggested the failure had to do with the border’s value as a campaign issue for the GOP.
Ezra, who was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan, said he feared the United States could become a confederation of states enforcing their own immigration laws. “That is the same thing the Civil War said you can’t do,” Ezra told the attorneys.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.