We are once again seeing a litigation on whether states can infringe on Federal law. This is a very simple case, really, and the Supreme Court will almost certainly find that states may not violate federal law. agreeing with the Fifth Circuit. I will be surprised if the Supreme Court even hears the case, given over 200 years of precedent in this country, that Federal Law trumps State Law.
First of all, The Fifth Circuit states
(a) Under Article III, a plaintiff must have standing to sue. This
bedrock constitutional requirement has its roots in the separation of
powers. So the threshold question here is whether the States have
standing to maintain this suit. Based on this Court’s precedents and
longstanding historical practice, the answer is no.
(b) There are good reasons why federal courts have not traditionally
entertained lawsuits of this kind.
United States et al. v. Texas et al. 2022
In other words, states do not have the authority to obstruct federal law enforcement. If federal law enforcement runs afoul of the law, the harmed parties have the right to sue the federal government.
But a state does not have the right to obstruct federal law enforcement simply because they do not like what the federal government is doing.
This is the law.
Every Supreme Court justice, including every Supreme Court justice appointed by Donald Trump agreed with this long-standing finding. Only Alito dissented.
The current efforts by Greg Abbott and the rest of the Republican Party of Texas which controls the state government to obstruct federal law enforcement by building razor wire in the Rio Grande is another violation of Federal law by obstructing federal law enforcement. The Supreme Court will almost certainly hold the long standing finding that states do not have the authority to violate federal law. If State officials continue to violate federal law they can be arrested.
On top of this, state legislatures are not independent and the Federal government is supreme. Independent State Legislature Theory is a rebranding of an idea that the Federal courts, regardless of what party appointed the majority of the bench, has consistently ruled as unconstitutional.
Texas needs to get into line and follow the law. Immigration is the sole responsibility of the Federal government.