AUSTIN, Texas (AP) 鈥 A federal judge on Thursday voiced concerns over a Texas law that would give police broad authority to arrest migrants on charges of illegal entry starting in March, saying it would be a 鈥渘ightmare鈥 if the U.S. became a patchwork of states enforcing different immigration laws.
鈥淭hat turns us from the United States of America into a confederation of states," said U.S. District Judge David Ezra, who did not immediately issue a ruling. 鈥淭hat is the same thing the Civil War said you can鈥檛 do.鈥
Ezra is considering a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice Department in what is the first legal test of what opponents have called the most dramatic attempt by a state to police immigration since a 2010 Arizona law that was partially struck down by the Supreme Court. It is among several courtroom battles Texas is fighting with President Joe Biden鈥檚 administration over how far the state can go to try to prevent migrants from
The judge remained skeptical during the nearly three-hour hearing in Austin, often sharply questioning the lawyers defending the law that was signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
Ezra, who was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan, did not say exactly when he would rule but said he hoped to give enough time for any appeals before the law takes effect March 5.
The measure would allow any Texas law enforcement officer to arrest people who are suspected of entering the country illegally. Once in custody, they could either agree to a Texas judge鈥檚 order to leave the U.S. or be prosecuted on a misdemeanor charge of illegal entry. Migrants who don鈥檛 leave could be arrested again and charged with a more serious felony.
Ezra noted he has experience hearing cases that deal with border issues and is familiar with the concerns raised by Abbott and other state officials over illegal crossings. But he said he was 鈥渘ot buying into鈥 the argument that only criminals are coming across the border, calling the 鈥渧ast majority鈥 of the migrants who enter the U.S. without permission otherwise law-abiding people.
He also questioned whether empowering local judges to remove people from the U.S. could interfere with federal processes or protections.
The state pointed to declarations by police officials who would enforce the law. Ezra responded: 鈥淚 have to rule on what the law says, not what they say they will or won't do.鈥
Ezra became frustrated during an exchange with an attorney for the state who said people with pending asylum cases who were arrested under the law would not be removed from the country, per their federal protections.
鈥淵ou just go to jail?鈥 Ezra asked.
鈥淵es,鈥 replied Ryan Walters, chief of the Texas Attorney General's Office special litigations division, moments after saying there is 鈥渘o safer place鈥 than a state prison for a migrant to await an immigration court case.
For months, tensions have escalated between the Biden administration and Texas over who can patrol the border and how. The Justice Department also has taken Texas to court over a and defended the ability of U.S. Border Patrol agents to cut through and remove miles of razor wire that the state has installed along the border.
Republican governors across the U.S. have A heavy presence of Texas 好色tv Guard members in the border city of Eagle Pass to a riverfront park. The agents had previously used the park for monitoring and patrols, as well as to process migrants who made it across the Rio Grande to U.S. soil.
Civil rights groups have argued that the new law, known as Senate Bill 4, could lead to civil rights violations and invite racial profiling.
Republicans have defended the law by saying it would likely only be enforced near the U.S.-Mexico border. They also contend that it would not be used to target immigrants who have long been settled in the U.S. because the statute of limitation on the misdemeanor charge is two years.
