Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times,

A divided federal appeals court on April 24 allowed Texas to enforce a state law that permits the arrest and prosecution of individuals thought to have unlawfully crossed the U.S.-Mexico border.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuitvoted10–7 to undo a 2024 injunction that had prevented enforcement of the law known as Senate Bill 4. Initially, the former Biden administration had challenged the statute, but the second Trump administration dropped the challenge in March 2025.

SB 4, which Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed in December 2023, would make it a state-level crime to illegally enter or re-enter Texas from a foreign country, give state judges authority to order that violators leave the United States, and allow prison sentences ⁠of up to 20 years for those refusing to comply.

The Fifth Circuit did not address the merits of the case because it found that the groups challenging the law—Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and American Gateways—lacked legal standing to do so.

Standing refers to the right of someone to sue in court. The parties must demonstrate a strong enough connection to the controversy before the court to justify their participation in a lawsuit.

The groups had argued that SB 4 was preempted—or superseded—by the federal Immigration and Nationality Act.

“This case concerns whether the State of Texas, exercising its historic, sovereign police powers, can legislatively protect its citizens from a surge of illegal aliens in response to an unprecedented border crisis and a declared invasion,” Circuit Judge Jerry E. Smith wrote for the majority.

“The [federal] district court judge and a divided panel held that it cannot. Because the Plaintiffs that are challenging the new statute lack standing, we vacate the [district court’s] preliminary injunction without addressing the merits of the preemption claim.”

The majority said SB 4 was enacted to respond to “widespread, illegal, disruptive immigration into the State,” including “more than 6 million illegal aliens, from over 100 countries,” including 100,000 unaccompanied minors, about 2,000 gang members, and 336 persons on the terrorist watchlist, who streamed across Texas’s international border from 2021 to 2023.

Source: ZeroHedge News