(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The Biden DOJ issued a legal threat to Gov. Greg Abbot, R-Texas, over a new law that allows state authorities to arrest individuals residing in the country illegally.
In a threatening letter, the federal government claimed that the law was unconstitutional and would hinder the Biden administration’s so-called immigration enforcement operations, reported the Houston Chronicle on Thursday.
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. https://t.co/CrvkBaiH8E
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) December 28, 2023
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton said in the letter that if Abbott does not suspend the law, “the United States will pursue all appropriate legal remedies to ensure that Texas does not interfere with the functions of the federal government.”
Abbott signed the law in question earlier this month, citing an unprecedented influx of illegal aliens crossing the border illegally into Texas. “President Biden’s deliberate inaction has left Texas to fend for itself,” Abbott said in Dec. 21 press release. “These laws will help stop the tidal wave of illegal entry into Texas, add additional funding to build more border wall, and crackdown on human smuggling.”
I signed a law yesterday to criminalize illegal entry into Texas & authorize the removal or imprisonment of illegal immigrants crossing our southern border.
Texas will continue stepping up until we have a new president who will enforce the law. pic.twitter.com/2Rc5XJ2P0T
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) December 19, 2023
Experts anticipated that the law, scheduled to take effect in March 2024, could spark a legal battle potentially reaching the Supreme Court.
In response to the letter, an Abbott spokesperson said: “Texas is prepared to take this fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to protect Texans and Americans from President Biden’s open border policies. President Biden’s deliberate and dangerous inaction at our southern border has left Texas to fend for itself.”
BREAKING: Video from a contact on the ground in Eagle Pass, TX right now shows a mass of thousands of migrants waiting to be processed by Border Patrol after they crossed illegally today. I’ve spent hundreds of days there over the last 2+ years and I’ve never seen it like this. pic.twitter.com/JPNYY7sPxI
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) December 19, 2023
The Texas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union quickly sued the Texas government, alleging the illegality of Abbott’s law. “We’re suing to block one of the most extreme anti-immigrant bills in the country,” said Adriana Piñon, legal director of the ACLU of Texas.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Abbott said the law was written so it “can and should be upheld in the courts on its own.” In contrast, the DOJ claimed that the U.S. Constitution grants the federal government the power to regulate immigration and control the nation’s border.
The federal government invoked a 2012 Supreme Court case affirming its sole authority to enforce immigration-related laws. At the time, Arizona had passed a law allowing local law enforcement to arrest individuals residing in the country illegally.
In the letter, the DOJ added, “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.’”
