Opponents of Texas' anti-sanctuary city law are trying to fast-track efforts to stop it in the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The move comes just weeks after a three-judge panel of the same court allowed most of Senate Bill 4 to go into effect.
“With the makeup of the Fifth Circuit, I think they may hear the preliminary injunction issue, but I just don’t think they’re going to grant it,” says T. Gerald Treece, associate dean of advocacy at South Texas College of Law Houston.
“They have a right to appeal and take the case to the Fifth Circuit, but the fast-track approach I don’t think is going to work.”
However, Treece does believe the case could still make it to the U.S. Supreme Court at some point.
“The merits are still on the slow train, it’s going to get their sooner or later, all under the Fifth Circuit,” he says. “Then there will be a cert petition filed in the Supreme Court cert to the court of appeals.”
For now, the only part of the law still blocked is one that punishes local officials for endorsing or adopting sanctuary city policies.