A panel of three federal appeals court judges heard arguments on Wednesday in a bitter legal fight between Gov. Greg Abbott and the Biden administration over Texas’ new migrant arrest law, punctuating a dizzying series of legal developments over the previous 24 hours that left migrants and many law enforcement officials in Texas confused and uncertain.
The session had been hastily convened the day before by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, leaving lawyers scrambling to prepare for a hearing that could determine whether one of the nation’s most aggressive state efforts to enforce security on the U.S.-Mexico border should be allowed to become law.
Two judges spoke frequently during the hearing, and their comments suggested a split on the panel.
The chief judge of the court, Priscilla Richman, appeared skeptical of the Texas law, particularly its provision allowing state courts to order migrants back to Mexico. As she questioned Aaron Nielson, the Texas solicitor general, she read from a 2012 Supreme Court case out of Arizona that upheld the supremacy of the federal government in immigration matters.
“It seems to me that this statute washes that away,” Judge Richman said of the Texas law.
The other judge who spoke, Andrew S. Oldham, a former general counsel to Mr. Abbott, peppered the U.S. Justice Department’s lawyer with questions and appeared likely to side with Texas. Mr. Oldham had dissented in a Fifth Circuit ruling on Tuesday night that effectively put the law back on hold, hours after the U.S. Supreme Court had allowed it to go into effect.
Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez, who was nominated by President Biden and confirmed last year, did not appear to speak during the hearing, which was conducted by video conference and streamed live to the public on audio.
The appeals court judges were considering a request by Texas to allow the law to take effect while its constitutionality is being challenged in court. A district court originally blocked the law in February. The appeals court judges issued no ruling during Wednesday’s hearing.