A federal appeals court has lifted a block on Texas’ border enforcement law, handing the state a major procedural win in its effort to crack down on illegal immigration.
In a Friday ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated a lower court injunction against Senate Bill 4, finding that the groups challenging the law lack standing to sue.
Because the plaintiffs do not have a sufficient legal stake in the case, the court ruled, the lawsuit cannot proceed—clearing the way for the law to take effect while broader legal questions remain unresolved.
Senate Bill 4, passed by the Texas Legislature in 2023, creates state-level criminal penalties for illegal entry into Texas and gives state and local law enforcement a direct role in immigration enforcement.
The law establishes two primary offenses. First, it makes it a crime for a foreign national to enter Texas from a foreign country at any location other than a lawful port of entry. Second, it creates a separate offense for individuals who re-enter the state after having previously been deported or denied admission to the United States.
In addition to criminal penalties, SB 4 also creates a new state process for removal. Under the law, a judge may order an individual accused under the statute to return to the country from which they entered. If the person agrees to that order, the criminal charge can be dismissed.
The legal challenge to SB 4 was originally filed in December 2023 by two immigration advocacy organizations—Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and American Gateways—along with El Paso County.
They argued the law violates the U.S. Constitution and interferes with federal authority over immigration policy.
The U.S. Department of Justice under the Biden administration later joined the lawsuit, similarly arguing that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility and that Texas could not create its own parallel system.
The cases were consolidated, and in February 2024, a federal district judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking the law before it could take effect.
That injunction remained in place as the case moved through the courts, even after the Department of Justice withdrew from the lawsuit in 2025, following President Donald Trump taking office.
Despite the federal government’s exit, the nonprofit groups and El Paso County continued pursuing the case, leading to Friday’s ruling that they lack standing.
Notably, the court did not rule on whether the law is constitutional or preempted by federal immigration law, leaving those questions for future litigation.
“Texas’s right to arrest illegals, protect our citizens, and enforce immigration law is fundamental,” said Attorney General Ken Paxton following the ruling. “This is a major win for public safety and law and order.”
State Rep. David Spiller, the sponsor of SB 4, praised the ruling as a major victory for Texas.
“I’m extremely pleased that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its en banc ruling vacating the preliminary injunction that previously prohibited the enforcement of SB 4, the strongest border security bill in the nation,” Spiller said.
He added that the decision allows Texas to enforce the law’s criminal provisions, including illegal entry and illegal reentry, and argued the court “rightly recognized the historic sovereign powers of the State of Texas to legislatively protect its citizens.”
“I have consistently stated—despite the claims of so-called ‘immigration experts’—my wholehearted belief that SB 4 is completely constitutional because it is not in conflict with the precedent set in Arizona v. United States, it is not preempted by existing federal immigration law, it is not in conflict with existing federal immigration law, and Texas has the absolute constitutional right, authority, and ability to protect and secure its borders and its sovereignty,” Spiller said.
