United States v. State of Texas

── United States v. State of Texas ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Date: April 24, 2026 Category: United States Civil Case: 24-50149 Document: 441-1 Page: 1 Date Filed: 04/24/2026 United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit ____________ FILED April 24, 2026 No. 24-50149 Lyle W. Cayce ____________ Clerk United States of America, Plaintiff—Appellee, versus State of Texas; Greg Abbott, in his official capacity as Governor of Texas; Texas Department of Public Safety; Freeman F. Martin, in his official capacity as Director of Texas Department of Public Safety, Defendants—Appellants, ______________________________ Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center; American Gateways; County of El Paso, Texas, Plaintiffs—Appellees, versus Freeman F. Martin, in his official capacity as Director of the State of Texas Department of Public Safety, Defendants—Appellants. Case: 24-50149 Document: 441-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 04/24/2026 ______________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas USDC Nos. 1:23-CV-1537, 1:24-CV-8 ______________________________ Before Elrod, Chief Judge, and Jones, Smith, Stewart, Richman, Southwick, Haynes, Graves, Higginson, Willett, Ho, Duncan, Engelhardt, Oldham, Wilson, Douglas, and Ramirez, Circuit Judges. Jerry E. Smith, Circuit Judge, joined by Elrod, Chief Judge, and Jones, Haynes, Willett, Ho, Duncan, Engelhardt, Oldham, and Wilson, Circuit Judges. “Courts sometimes make standing law more complicated than it needs to be.” Bost v. Ill. State Bd. of Elections, 146 S. Ct. 513, 523 (2026) (Roberts, C.J.) (citation omitted). “[P]laintiffs must have a ‘personal stake’ in a case to have standing to sue.” Id. at 519 (citing FDA v. All. for Hippocratic Med., 602 U.S. 367, 379 (2024)). “Plaintiffs cannot ‘manufacture standing by voluntarily’ incurring costs.” Id. at 522 (citation omitted). That should be the end of this matter: These Plaintiffs voluntarily incurred costs to advocate for clients. Under recent Supreme Court prece- dent, that falls far short of conferring standing. We vacate the preliminary injunction to the contrary. * * * * * This case concerns whether the State of Texas, exercising its historic, sovereign police powers, can legislatively protect its citizens from a surge of illegal aliens in response to an unprecedented border crisis and a declared invasion. The district court judge and a divided panel held that it cannot. Because the Plaintiffs that are challenging the new statute lack standing, we vacate the preliminary injunction without addressing the merits of the pre- emption claim. 2 Case: 24-50149 Document: 441-1 Page: 3 Date Filed: 04/24/2026 No. 24-50149 I. Facts A. The Backdrop In 2023, Texas enacted Senate Bill 4 (“S.B. 4”) in response to wide- spread illegal, disruptive immigration into the State. The jarring statistics of the human toll are as follows: More than 6 million illegal aliens, from over 100 cou