The Biden administration warned Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday that legal action would be taken if the state enforces a new law that allows authorities to arrest, jail, prosecute and deport immigrants who enter the country illegally.
A Justice Department official said in a letter sent to Abbott that the law is unconstitutional and “contrary to the US commitment to ensure the processing of non-citizens in accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act.”
The law, dubbed SB4 or Senate Bill 4, is part of the state’s Operation Lone Star. It takes effect on March 5.
“SB 4 is preempted and violates the United States Constitution. Accordingly, the United States intends to file suit seeking enforcement of SB 4 unless Texas agrees to refrain from enforcing the law,” Deputy Chief Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton wrote in the order letter, obtained by CBS News.
SB 4, signed into law by Abbott on Dec. 18, makes entering the US illegally from Mexico a state crime and empowers police to arrest individuals suspected of crossing the Rio Grande between ports of entry
A spokesman for the Texas governor vowed that the state would take the legal battle with the Biden administration to the Supreme Court, if necessary. Reuters
Migrants caught entering the country illegally face Class B misdemeanor charges that carry up to six months in prison. Repeat offenders will be charged with a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
SB 4 allows Texas judges to drop charges against immigrants if they agree to be deported.
The new law “intrudes into an area that the federal government occupies and presides over,” Boynton argued.
“In fact, the Supreme Court has confirmed that the ‘removal process’ must be ‘entrusted to the discretion of the Federal Government’ because the ‘decision on transferability’ touches on ‘external relations and must be made with one voice.’
The Justice Department argues that the federal government is solely responsible for enforcing immigration laws. Reuters
DOJ officials also noted that SB 4 could result in immigrants with valid asylum claims being imprisoned or deported to countries where they would face “persecution or torture.”
The Biden administration asked Abbott to confirm that he would not enforce the new law by January 3.
Abbott slammed the threat, accusing President Biden of “destroying America,” in a social media posts relating to reports on administrative claims.
“Administrator Biden. not only refuse to enforce current US immigration laws, they now want to prevent Texas from enforcing laws against illegal immigration,” the governor said in a post X. “I have never seen such hostility to the rule of law in America. Biden is destroying America. Texas is trying to save it.”
Individuals repeatedly arrested for crossing the border illegally could face criminal charges under the new law. Reuters
An Abbott spokesman told The Post that Texas will take legal action to enforce SB 4 to the Supreme Court, if necessary.
“Texas is prepared to continue this fight all the way to the US Supreme Court to protect Texans and Americans from President Biden’s open border policies,” Abbott representative Renae Eze said in a statement.
“Absent President Biden’s deliberate and dangerous actions on our southern border we have left Texas to fend for itself. Governor Abbott signed Senate Bill 4 into law last week to help stem the tide of illegal immigration into Texas as the President refuses to enforce federal immigration laws.”
The governor has tried to deal with the surge of immigrants to Texas by bringing new immigrants to so-called sanctuary cities, including New York and Chicago, and by building floating barriers on the Rio Grande, which a court has ordered the governor to remove.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
