Texas police can arrest suspected illegal aliens after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a temporary injunction against the law on Friday.
The Las America Immigrant Advocacy Center, the American Gateways, and the County of El Paso, Texas, had sued Freeman F. Martin in his capacity as the director of the State of Texas Department of Public Safety.
The lawsuit challenged Senate Bill 4, which was signed into law in 2023. The Texas Legislature passed the law in response to an influx of illegal aliens crossing the border during the Biden administration.
The 159-page ruling found that the 2023 Texas law can be enforced because the plaintiffs didn’t have standing to sue.
“Plaintiffs must have a ‘personal stake in a case to have standing to sue.” Plaintiffs cannot ‘manufacture standing by voluntarily’ incurring costs,” the ruling read.
“That should be the end of this matter: These Plaintiffs voluntarily incurred costs to advocate for clients. Under recent Supreme Court precedent, that falls far short of conferring standing. We vacate the preliminary injunction to the contrary.”
🚨The en banc Fifth Circuit has allowed a Texas law that criminalizes illegal border crossings to take effect, holding that challengers lack standing to sue.
— SCOTUS Wire (@scotus_wire) April 24, 2026
The law also allows state judges to issue orders requiring noncitizens to return to a port of entry. pic.twitter.com/Z68d6gWeHu
gov.uscourts.ca5.218049.441.0 by scott.mcclallen
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton welcomed the ruling.
🚨BREAKING: We just successfully defended SB 4 before the Fifth Circuit.
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) April 24, 2026
Texas’s right to arrest illegals, protect our citizens, and enforce immigration law is fundamental. This is a major win for public safety and law and order.