(USNewsMag.com) – The Biden administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) is threatening to sue the Lone Star State again if Texas decides to move forward with enforcing its new legislation allowing the arrest and immediate deportation of illegal immigrants who cross the southern border.
According to the Houston Chronicle, the DOJ sent a letter to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott threatening to “pursue all appropriate legal remedies” to stop Texas from interfering “with the functions of the federal government.” The letter came in response to Senate Bill 4, which Abbott signed into law in December, allowing state law enforcement to detain illegal immigrants and permitting Texas judges to send them back over the US-Mexico border.
The DOJ claims the new Texas law is “unconstitutional” and that it “will disrupt” the operations of the federal government to enforce immigration policy. The letter states that Abbott’s legislation is “preempted” and will intrude on “a field… occupied by the federal government.” They cited a 2012 Supreme Court ruling, “US v. Arizona,” which determined the federal government has the authority to enforce its immigration laws.
Abbott’s office responded to the DOJ letter in an official statement. Renae Eze, the governor’s spokesperson, said Texas is “prepared” to take the fight “all the way to the US Supreme Court” to make sure “Texans and Americans” are protected from Biden’s “open border policies.” She described Biden’s “inaction” at the southern border as “deliberate and dangerous” and said that it left the Lone Star State “to fend for itself” amid the immigration crisis. Abbott signed SB 4 in order to help halt “the tidal wave of illegal entry” into the state as the federal government “refuses” to enforce the law.
The threats from the DOJ are just the latest clash between the Biden administration and Abbott over the immigration and border crisis. The Texas governor accused Biden and his administration of failing in their duty to secure the US-Mexico border, launching their own efforts to do so, called “Operation Lone Star.” The federal government, in return, accuses the governor of promoting and implementing inhumane policies to stop illegal immigration.
Last year, the DOJ sued Texas in a separate case over Abbott’s decision to deploy a buoy barrier with an attached net in the Rio Grande River. Abbott was able to stall the removal of the barrier in the appellate court.
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