Reactions to the Supreme Court decision allowing a contested Texas immigration law to take effect reflected the country’s deep partisan divide on immigration policy. Within minutes of the order on Tuesday, the state’s Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, celebrated on social media, calling it a “HUGE WIN.”
The Biden administration, which opposed putting into effect Senate Bill 4, the law allowing Texas police officers to arrest unauthorized migrants, described the measure as “harmful and unconstitutional” and disagreed with the court’s order.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said in a statement that the law was “just another example of Republican officials politicizing the border while blocking real solutions.”
“S.B. 4 will not only make communities in Texas less safe,” she said, “it will also burden law enforcement and sow chaos and confusion at our southern border.”
The law, passed by the Texas Legislature, makes it a crime to cross into the state from a foreign country anywhere other than a legal port of entry. In siding with Texas, the court continued its clash with the Biden administration, which has challenged the law as an unconstitutional infringement on the federal government’s power to set and enforce immigration law.
Senate Republicans, who earlier this year rejected tough border security restrictions that they themselves had demanded, adopted a triumphant tone on social media after the ruling, saying on X that the court had allowed Texas to do President Biden’s job — enforcing border security laws — “since he refuses to.” They proclaimed victory for “those who believe in the rule of law and secure borders.”
Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, a Republican, offered a more muted reaction, citing the appeals process while still saying that “this is clearly a positive development.”
Representative Joaquin Castro, a Democrat who represents San Antonio, said the court had undermined its credibility, and called the law “an alarming state overreach” that could lead to civil rights violations across Texas.
“At a time of rising anti-Hispanic violence, this law puts a target on the back of anyone perceived by law enforcement to look or sound like an immigrant,” Mr. Castro said in a statement. “While we wait for the Supreme Court’s final ruling, I’ll do everything I can to help Texans understand their rights and navigate the dangerous climate that Governor Abbott and state Republicans have created.”
J. David Goodman, Edgar Sandoval and Adam Liptak contributed reporting.
