Texas Gov. Greg Abbott can’t be sued over an executive order that prohibits individuals from providing ground transportation to migrants who are in the country illegally, a federal appeals court decided Friday. The conservative US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s decision with instructions to dismiss the suit against Abbott on the grounds that as a government official, he’s protected by sovereign immunity. That means Abbott has the authority, for now, to direct the state police force to enforce the order. Abbott issued the order in July 2021 under a state emergency following an influx of unlawful crossings at the US-Mexico border. It allowed the state’s police, the Department of Public Safety, to stop any vehicle transporting migrants who have been detained for an illegal crossing or who would’ve been subject to expulsion under federal law. The order drew two lawsuits, one from the federal government and one from nonprofit organizations, alleging that it subjected drivers to unlawful seizures. After consolidating the lawsuits, the district court granted a preliminary injunction against Abbott’s order and denied the governor’s motions to dismiss. To date, the state hasn’t enforced the order. The Fifth Circuit reversed based on what it considered an error in identifying the defendant. The opinion says Abbott has no authority to enforce his own order, GA-37, which “plainly delegates all remaining enforcement discretion to DPS.” As such, Abbott isn’t a proper defendant. It goes on to say there’s not sufficient evidence showing Abbott “commandeered” the state police department by forcing them to enforce his order. The opinion was written by Judge Andrew Oldham, who was joined by Judge Don Willett. The panel’s third judge, Carl Stewart, wrote a dissenting opinion saying “the order’s plain language leaves little to the imagination in terms of enforcement.” The case is Annunciation House v. Greg Abbott, 5th Cir. App., No. 3:21-CV-178, opinion 10/27/23.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Autullo in Austin at rautullo@bloombergindustry.com To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stephanie Gleason at sgleason@bloombergindustry.com; Fawn Johnson at fjohnson@bloombergindustry.com
Kommentarer