The Department of Justice is threatening to sue Texas if its governor, Greg Abbott (R.), enforces a new immigration law that allows for the arrest and deportation of illegal immigrants, which was enacted last week.
The legislation in question, Senate Bill 4, aims to deter thousands of illegal aliens from crossing the Mexico-Texas border into the U.S. by officially making illegal immigration a state crime. The law would function as a response to the Biden administration’s inaction regarding the crisis. Abbott wanted to give his state control over its own borders, but the Justice Department sees the law as a direct challenge to the federal government.
Over 242,000 illegal immigrants tried crossing the southern border in November, according to the latest monthly numbers provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. That number is expected to rise for the month of December, which has seen over 250,000 migrant encounters at the southern border since December 1, on track to surpass the previous record of nearly 270,000 encounters in September.
In a letter addressed to Abbott and Texas attorney general Ken Paxton (R.) on Thursday, DOJ official Brian Boynton argued that the federal government holds sole authority over immigration enforcement and Texas is encroaching upon that responsibility.
“SB 4 is preempted and violates the United States Constitution. Accordingly, the United States intends to file suit to enjoin the enforcement of SB 4 unless Texas agrees to refrain from enforcing the law,” the letter states, giving Abbott and Paxton until January 3 to do just that.
In response, an Abbott spokesperson said the governor anticipates taking the legal dispute all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and does not intend to comply with the DOJ’s threat.
Under the Court’s 2012 Arizona v. U.S. decision, no states can implement their own immigration laws or policies, which Boynton cites as further basis for the legislation’s unconstitutionality.
“S.B. 4 therefore intrudes into a field that is occupied by the federal government and is pre-empted,” the federal official wrote. “Indeed, the Supreme Court has confirmed that ‘the removal process’ must be ‘entrusted to the discretion of the Federal Government’ because a ‘decision on removability’ touches ‘on foreign relations and must be made with one voice.'”
SB 4 gives the state and local governments in Texas the authority to arrest illegal aliens who cross its border from Mexico between officially designated ports of entry. Under the bill, those who unlawfully cross can be charged with a state misdemeanor and face up to one year in prison. A felony charge, carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years, can be leveled if illegal immigrants are charged with additional crimes or don’t comply with a judge’s orders.
The legislation also authorizes state judges to deport illegal aliens to Mexico if they see fit, rather than pursue prosecution under federal law. Last month, both the Texas senate and house passed the Republican-sponsored bill that is now being challenged, which is set to take effect on March 5.
The formal notification of the impending lawsuit comes more than a week after the American Civil Liberties Union and two other progressive activist organizations sued Texas for the same reasons.
Come January, the new law will further escalate tensions between Abbott and the Biden administration. The Texas government has claimed that the federal government isn’t doing enough to curtail illegal immigration, while the White House and Justice Department have also been actively challenging the state’s sanctioned buoy barriers and razor wire along the Rio Grande.
Under a smaller operation similar to the newly signed migrant-arrest law, Texas has arrested over 10,000 illegal immigrants since the initiative’s start in July 2021. The new law will only further expand the state’s authority to make such arrests.