Earlier on Thursday, I wrote about cabinet-level members of the Biden Administration meeting up with the president of Mexico to give in to that country's policy of aiding illegal immigrants to overwhelm our sovereign border without a whimper of complaint. Among the belated Christmas presents--which Secretaries Mayorkas and Blinken came bearing on bended knee--were as yet unspecified promises to make trade concessions, dole out monies across the hemisphere to fix the "root causes" of illegal immigration, and "regularizing the situation of long-term undocumented Hispanic migrants and DACA recipients."
As my colleague Ward Clark guessed, when he wrote on Dec. 18 about Gov. Abbott signing SB 4 into law, legal challenges weren't far behind. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit against the Lone Star state just over a week ago, in hopes of blocking the law from taking effect in March.
It's in this context that many readers will be unsurprised by the move the Biden Justice Department has now threatened against a U.S. state:
The Justice Department said it would file a lawsuit against SB4 if Texas did not assure federal officials by Jan. 3 that the state would refrain from enforcing the law as planned in March, according to a letter sent to Gov. Greg Abbott on Dec. 28 and obtained by CBS News. In addition to creating illegal entry crimes at the state level, the law would allow Texas judges to issue de facto deportation orders.
In its letter, the Justice Department said SB4 would effectively criminalize actions that are already illegal at the federal level, undermine relations with Mexico and prevent officials from enforcing federal immigration laws, including those designed to grant refuge to migrants fleeing persecution.
In the letter addressed to Abbott, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton said:.
Because SB 4 is unconstitutional and will disrupt the federal government's operations, we request that Texas forbear in its enforcement.
If Texas does not heed the Biden administration's demand, "the United States intends to file suit to enjoin the enforcement of SB 4.
Here's one of the provisions that would really make life hard for Biden and the Democrats, who want the deluge of illegals to continue:
SB4 would also allow Texas magistrates to order migrants suspected of violating the illegal entry or reentry laws to return to Mexico as an alternative to continuing their prosecution. Those found to violate those orders could be charged with a second-degree felony.
The Mexican government has already said it would not accept returns of migrants from Texas state officials, denouncing SB4 as an 'anti-immigrant' law."
Abbott reacted on social media to the DOJ's threatening letter, writing that he's baffled by the level of "hostility" the Administration has shown to his state trying to "enforc[e] laws against illegal immigration" and restoring "the rule of law":
The Biden Admin. not only refuses to enforce current U.S. immigration laws, they now want to stop Texas from enforcing laws against illegal immigration.
I’ve never seen such hostility to the rule of law in America.
Biden is destroying America.
Texas is trying to save it.
Then in a great example of a picture being worth a thousand words, he dropped this image:
We'll keep you posted after the first of the year on this crucial story involving our national security.