Attor­ney Gen­er­al Ken Pax­ton Requests Rehear­ing at Fifth Cir­cuit to Defend Texas’s Abil­i­ty to Arrest and Pun­ish Ille­gal Aliens

Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a petition for rehearing en banc before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, requesting the full court to uphold Senate Bill 4, which is a Texas law that makes illegal entry and reentry a state crime and grants state judges certain remedial powers. 

“Texas has a sovereign right to protect its border from the hordes of illegals seeking to invade our state and harm our citizens,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Passed during the height of Biden’s border crisis, SB 4 enables Texas to punish illegal aliens and order them to leave America. Radical open border activists have sought to undermine Texas’s right to defend itself, but I will never stop fighting to close the border and equip state law enforcement with the power to ensure border security.”  

In 2023, SB 4 was adopted to address the crisis at the Texas-Mexico border by making it a state crime to cross the border illegally, which is already a federal crime. This enables Texas law enforcement to detain illegal aliens and for judges to order them to return to the country from which they illegally entered. By design, SB 4 allows Texas to defend its sovereignty while not conflicting with federal law. Attorney General Paxton has vigorously defended SB 4 from both the Biden Administration and radical left-wing activist groups, previously securing wins at the Supreme Court of the United States. However, a Fifth Circuit panel wrongly held that the law could not be enforced, and Attorney General Paxton has requested an en banc rehearing.  

To read the filing, click here.