This week, the Supreme Court cleared a controversial Texas immigration law, which would give Texas officials the authority to arrest and deport migrants accused of entering the country illegally—only to have an appellate court block it hours later. The Biden administration has challenged the law, known as SB4, on the grounds that it would interfere with the federal government’s ability to enforce U.S. immigration laws. The clash between Texas and federal officials may prove a litmus test of the balance of power between the federal government and states, which have grown more powerful amid intensifying partisan polarization.
The trend toward increasing state power will have far-reaching consequences not only for domestic politics but also for U.S. foreign policy, write Jenna Bednar and Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar. How leaders in Washington, the courts, and local governments approach this shift, Bednar and Cuéllar warn, “will determine whether state-level action becomes a source of resilience or a destabilizing force for Americans and the world.”
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