Mexico Warns of Strained US-Mexico Relations Over Texas Immigration Law

TFD – Discover Mexico’s stance on the Texas immigration law, warning of potential strain on US-Mexico relations due to this federal issue.

Mexico is cautioning a federal US court that there would be “substantial tension” between the two countries and that there will be negative effects on US-Mexico relations if the judges allow a contentious Texas immigration law to go into effect.

The attorneys for Mexico predicted deteriorating relations with the United States in a friend-of-the-court brief submitted to the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday.

“By criminalizing the unauthorized entry of noncitizens into Texas from outside the county and creating diverging removal requirements between and among individual states and the national government, enforcement of SB 4 would inappropriately burden the uniform and predictable sovereign-to-sovereign relations between Mexico and the United States,” they wrote in the brief.

“Enforcement of SB 4 would also interfere with Mexico’s right to determine its own policies regarding entry into its territory, undermine U.S.-Mexico collaboration on a legal migration framework and border management, and hinder U.S.-Mexico trade,” the attorneys told the court.

Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed the bill into law in December, making it a state crime to enter Texas unlawfully and giving state judges the authority to order the deportation of immigrants. In general, the federal government is in charge of US immigration enforcement.

While it considers whether Senate Bill 4 violates the US Constitution, the 5th Circuit is currently debating whether to permit Texas to implement the law. The Supreme Court had earlier that day cleared the way for the law to take force for a little while, but late on Tuesday, a three-judge panel at the appeals court placed it back on hold.

Amicus briefs, such as the one presented by Mexico, are formal documents submitted by non-parties to a lawsuit in order to provide information and court knowledge. The discretion of the court determines whether to accept amicus briefs. Certain amici may submit their briefs endorsing one side over the other or neither.

Mexico declared that it was supporting the opponents of the measure, which included the Biden administration. In the brief submitted on Thursday, its lawyers contended that the rule “will be applied in a discriminatory manner” if it is permitted to go into effect.

Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena said earlier on Thursday that under the new law, Mexico’s 11 consulates in Texas are required to offer security, direction, and legal assistance to any Mexican national who “starts to have a problem.”

“This law is deeply unconstitutional,” Barcena declared, contending that, similar to Mexico, immigration matters fall under federal jurisdiction in the US.

Therefore, since this is a federal issue that affects us as well, we will not tolerate any action taken by the state of Texas, the authorities, the police, or anybody else involved in immigration-related concerns at the state or county level. Thus, we are present, the minister declared.