International

The United States Supreme Court gives Texas free rein to arrest and expel migrants

The Supreme Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday in favor of the state of Texas allowing it to enter into force of a law that allows the Police to arrest and expel migrants suspected of irregularly entering the United States.

The legislation, known as SB4, may enter into force while the arguments of a lawsuit filed by the Government of President Joe Biden and organizations defending migrants are heard.

The case reached the highest court after a legal battle undertaken by the Biden Administration and advocates of immigrants led by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), who allege that the initiative is unconstitutional.

The plaintiffs had asked the Supreme Court to stop the implementation of the measure while the case was being settled in the Fifth Circuit of Appeals. On Monday, Judge Samuel Alito had blocked the law indefinitely, waiting for the plenary to vote on this request.

On Tuesday, the six conservative judges voted in favor of Texas, allowing the law to take effect while a final ruling is given in the case.

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton applauded the high court’s decision in a message in X. “Texas has defeated the emergency motions of the Biden Administration and the ACLU,” and stressed that the law is already in force.

The law, one of the most drastic anti-immigrant measures in the history of the United States, makes it a misdemeanor that a foreigner “enters or attempts to enter the state from a foreign nation” irregularly. The offense becomes a serious crime, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, if the offender is a repeat offender.

The initiative also allows the state Justice to order the expulsion of people without legal process. Likewise, police officers will be able to arrest any individual they suspect that he entered the country illegally, and will have the discretionary power to expel him to Mexico instead of arresting him.

Initially, the measure promoted by the governor of Texas, Republican Greg Abbott, was supposed to enter into force on March 5, but a federal judge sided with the plaintiffs and banned it.

The Texas prosecutor, Ken Paxton, took the fight to the Fifth Circuit of Appeals where he obtained support, so the plaintiffs went to the Supreme Court to prevent the law from entering into force asking for an emergency motion, which was finally denied.

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Anand Balakrishnan, lead lawyer of the ACLU Immigrant Rights Project, described Tuesday’s decision as “disappointing.”

The lawyer added in a statement that the law “threatens the integrity of our nation’s immigration laws and the fundamental principles of due process” so they will continue to fight until they defeat it.

Related Topics:Supreme Court United States

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International

Football Fan Killed in Clashes After Colombian League Match

Fans of Cúcuta Deportivo and their traditional rivals Atlético Bucaramanga clashed outside the stadium following their local league match on Tuesday, leaving one supporter dead and several others injured.

The deceased fan was stabbed, according to a senior police official in Cúcuta who confirmed the cause of death in a video statement. Local media reported that the victim was a supporter of the visiting team, Atlético Bucaramanga.

The match ended in a 2-2 draw. Authorities had banned the entry of Atlético Bucaramanga’s organized supporters into the stadium in an effort to prevent disturbances.

Despite the restrictions, violence broke out in the surrounding areas after the game. Among the injured were three police officers, an institutional source told AFP.

The incident adds to a series of recent violent episodes linked to Colombian football. The most recent occurred in December, when supporters of Atlético Nacional and Independiente Medellín clashed in the stands and on the pitch, leaving 59 people injured.

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International

Missing Spanish Sailor Rescued After 11 Days Adrift in Mediterranean

The man had departed from the port of Gandía, on Spain’s eastern coast, with the intention of reaching the southern Spanish town of Guardamar del Segura, a journey of about 150 kilometers, a spokesperson for Spain’s maritime rescue service told AFP.

Search boats and aircraft were deployed on January 17, but the operation was called off on January 22 after efforts proved unsuccessful. Alerts were then issued to vessels navigating the area in case they spotted any signs of the missing sailor.

As hopes were fading, a surveillance aircraft from the European Union’s border agency Frontex spotted the sailboat on Tuesday, along with a person signaling for help, approximately 53 nautical miles northeast of Bejaia, Algeria.

A nearby vessel, the Singapore-flagged bulk carrier Thor Confidence, carried out the rescue and is expected to bring the man to an end to his ordeal when it arrives on Thursday in the southern Spanish port city of Algeciras.

Maritime rescue services shared images on social media showing a small white sailboat drifting at sea and secured alongside the much larger ship.

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It remains unclear how the sailboat ended up hundreds of kilometers off its intended route or how the man managed to survive for so long alone in open waters.

International

Rubio Says U.S. Could Participate in Follow-Up Russia-Ukraine Talks

The United States could join a new round of talks this week aimed at ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday.

Teams from Kyiv and Moscow met last Friday and Saturday in Abu Dhabi in their first publicly acknowledged direct negotiations to discuss the peace initiative promoted by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

“They are going to hold follow-up talks again this week,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “There could be U.S. participation.”

However, Rubio suggested that Washington’s role may be more limited than during last week’s discussions, which included Steve Witkoff, the president’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.

The secretary of state indicated that progress may have already been made on security guarantees for Ukraine, one of Kyiv’s key demands in any agreement with Moscow after nearly four years of Russian invasion.

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“There is one remaining issue that everyone is familiar with, and that is the territorial claim over Donetsk,” Rubio said, referring to the eastern Ukrainian region that Russia wants Ukraine to cede.

“I know that active efforts are underway to see whether the positions of both sides on this issue can be reconciled. It remains a bridge we have not yet crossed,” he added during the hearing.

Rubio acknowledged that the territorial question would be particularly difficult for Ukraine to resolve.