Supreme Court temporarily halts Texas law allowing state immigration enforcement

The Supreme Court on Monday imposed a temporary stay on a Texas law permitting state officials to arrest illegal aliens.

Associate Justice Samuel Alito imposed the stay after the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals permitted the law to take effect on March 10, NBC reported. U.S. District Judge David Ezra imposed an initial stay late last month.

Alito's stay come in response to plea from the Biden administration and will remain in effect until March 13. The justice gave Texas until March 11 to respond to the administration.

In issuing the original stay, Ezra argued that the law would permit the Lone Star State to "permanently supersede federal directives," amounting to "nullification of federal law and authority — a notion that is antithetical to the Constitution and has been unequivocally rejected by federal courts since the Civil War."

Under the Biden administration, Texas has routinely clashed with Washington over Operation Lone Star, its unilateral effort to secure the border in the face of perceived federal apathy toward the unprecedented surge in illegal crossings.

Among the most high-profile dispute have been the state's deployment of a buoy barrier in the Rio Grande river and its construction of concertina-wire fencing along the Mexican frontier to deter illegal entrants.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.