Following a split 6-3 decision from the Supreme Court that will allow Texas state officials to arrest people suspected of crossing the US-Mexico border illegally, Elon Musk hit out at the justices who sided with the Biden administration.
‘Crazy that Texas has to do the job of the Biden administration, which filed aggressive legal action to stop the state!’ he wrote Tuesday afternoon.
‘If anyone still doesn’t believe that ushering in illegals is the goal of the Biden administration, this should convince them.’
The high court declined to block the Texas law that allows its law enforcement officers to detain suspected illegal immigrants – a major blow to the Biden administration.
Biden’s DOJ had asked the justices to freeze a judicial order allowing the Republican-backed Texas law to take effect while the Justice Department ‘s challenge to the statute proceeds in the lower courts.
The SCOTUS decision means Texas cops will be allowed to arrest people suspected of entering the country illegally, giving local officers powers long delegated to the federal government.
Liberal Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the majority decision.
Musk, who houses his Tesla Gigafactory in Austin, Texas and a SpaceX launch site in the southern part of the state, has embraced the position that the Biden administration is prioritizing the needs of millions of illegal immigrants over those of Americans.
His intense criticism of the Democratic administration comes from his perspective as ‘an immigrant who is proud to have become a citizen and who supports expanded and expedited *legal* immigration.’
Also on Tuesday, Musk pinned a video to his X profile that describes the the progressive strategy to prioritize illegal immigration in an effort to ultimately undermine the rule of law in America and ensure the permanent election of Democrats to high office.
To that alleged end, the Biden administration argued that the Texas law violates the Constitution and federal law by interfering with the federal government’s power to regulate immigration.
Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who signed the bill in December, has said the law was needed due to Biden’s failure to enforce federal laws criminalizing illegal entry or re-entry, claiming in December that ‘Biden’s deliberate inaction has left Texas to fend for itself.’
The Supreme Court has rejected a bid by the Biden administration to block a Texas law that would allow state officials to arrest people suspected of crossing the southern border illegally. Liberal Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor dissented
Two migrants struggle to cross the Rio Grande River on the Mexico-US border as Texas National Guards take security measures in Eagle Pass, Texas
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a news conference about the panhandle wildfires, Friday, March 1 in Borger, Texas
Abbott reacted to the SCOTUS decision on X, writing: ‘In a 6-3 decision SCOTUS allows Texas to begin enforcing SB4 that allows the arrest of illegal immigrants. We still have to have hearings in the 5th circuit federal court of appeals.
‘But this is clearly a positive development.’
The Democratic president’s handling of the record numbers of migrants caught illegally crossing the US-Mexico border during his presidency has drawn sharp criticism from Republicans.
Abbott and other Republicans have said Biden should have kept the restrictive policies of former President Donald Trump, their party’s candidate challenging Biden in the upcoming presidential election in November.
The Texas law made illegal entry or re-entry into Texas a state crime, with penalties ranging from 180 days in jail to 20 years in prison. Under it, Texas magistrate judges will be required to order migrants to return to Mexico, with up to 20-year sentences for those who refuse to comply.
The Justice Department sued in January to block the measure, which was originally set to take effect on March 5. Biden administration lawyers argued that it violates federal law and constitutional provisions giving the U.S. government the power to regulate commerce with foreign countries and among states, and runs afoul of a 2012 Supreme Court precedent.
Texas-based U.S. District David Ezra on Feb. 29 sided with the administration and agreed to preliminarily block Texas officials from enforcing the law, saying that it ‘threatens the fundamental notion that the United States must regulate immigration with one voice.’
The Texas law made illegal entry or re-entry into Texas a state crime, with penalties ranging from 180 days in jail to 20 years in prison. Migrants are seen crossng the Rio Grande
Migrants attempting to cross the North American side of the border between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico in Texas, United States on March 3, 2024
The surge of migrants in Texas has created a huge burden for the state and for the non-profits that help migrants. Pictured above, migrants rest on cots at a shelter in El Paso, Texas
But the New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals paused Ezra’s ruling in an order that would have let the Texas law take effect on March 10, prompting the administration to file an emergency request to the Supreme Court.
Justice Samuel Alito, who handles certain emergency matters involving cases from a group of states including Texas, on March 4 halted the 5th Circuit ruling – and thus the law – from taking effect, giving the Supreme Court more time to consider the matter.
Texas has pursued a range of measures to deter people who cross illegally under its Operation Lone Star, including deploying National Guard troops to the border, blocking migrants with concertina wire and installing a floating barrier over a stretch of the Rio Grande.
Republicans in February scuttled a bipartisan Senate deal that would have bolstered border security and tightened immigration laws after Trump pushed members of his party to reject it. Biden said blame for the bill’s failure lay with Republican lawmakers who bowed to political pressure from Trump who ‘thinks it’s bad for him politically.’
An analysis of exit polls conducted by Edison Research following primary election voting in early March showed alarm among many voters over the situation along the border. Many called it their top voting issue. Reuters/Ipsos polling showed Biden’s public approval level at 37 percent as of February 28.