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Texas anti-immigration law blocked by federal court the day before taking effect

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Published  May 14, 2026 9:23pm CDT
Immigration
FOX Local
article

A view of the border wall between Mexico and the United States, in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico on January 19, 2018. The Mexican government reaffirmed on January 18, 2018 that they will not pay for US President Donald Trump's controversial

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The Brief

    • A federal judge blocked key parts of Texas’ controversial immigration law SB 4.
    • The law would let Texas police arrest people suspected of crossing illegally.
    • State leaders are likely to appeal the ruling.

A federal court has halted an anti-immigration law a day before it would have gone into effect in Texas.

Senate Bill 4 has been locked in legal battles since passing in 2023. Now, after the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas stepped in Thursday, it's once again awaiting further action before it can be implemented.

Senate Bill 4

The backstory:

SB 4 would allow for state and local law enforcement officers to arrest people they suspect may have crossed the border illegally. It also enhances such crossings to a state crime, and requires state judges to expel people convicted of illegal entry. 

Critics of the law, like the ACLU of Texas, call it "extreme," and have filed recent lawsuits to prevent it from going into effect. 

If not for a May 4 joint suit by action groups and Thursday's court order, the law would have taken effect Thursday.

Blocked by court

The latest:

U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra granted the preliminary injunction against these sections of the law on Thursday. 

In his order, the judge stated that "S.B. 4 could open the door to each state passing its own version of immigration laws. The effect would moot the uniform regulation of immigration throughout the country and force the federal government to navigate a patchwork of inconsistent regulations."

The following provisions remain blocked:

  • The reentry crime that would apply to anyone living in or traveling through Texas who reentered the United States — even if the person had federal permission to reenter or has since obtained lawful immigration status such as a green card.
  • The power given to magistrates — who don’t know the intricacies of immigration law — to issue deportation orders.
  • The crime of failing to comply with the magistrate’s removal orders.
  • The requirement that magistrates continue a prosecution even when a person has a pending immigration case under federal law.

Read the full order below:

What's next:

As the law has the support of the legislature and AG Ken Paxton, the order is likely to be appealed to a higher court. 

The Source: Information in this article comes from a federal court order and the ACLU.

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