Justice Department Sues Texas over New Law Allowing State Arrest, Deportation of Illegal Immigrants

The Justice Department is suing Texas over Governor Greg Abbott’s new law that authorizes state authorities to arrest and deport illegal immigrants, arguing the Lone Star State is overstepping its bounds by implementing immigration policy, which only the federal government has the authority to do.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday after the Justice Department threatened to sue Texas last week if it proceeded with enforcing senate bill 4, which will take effect on March 5. An Abbott spokesperson said the Republican governor anticipates taking the legal dispute all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and does not intend to comply with the Biden administration’s demand.

The Justice Department contends that Texas must abandon its new border law because it “unconstitutionally intrudes on the federal government’s exclusive authority to regulate the entry and removal of noncitizens.” The legislation also allegedly “disrupt[s] the federal government’s operations” at the southern border, the lawsuit claims.

The bill authorizes state and local governments in Texas to arrest illegal aliens who cross the state’s border from Mexico between officially designated ports of entry. Under the law, those who unlawfully enter the U.S. can be charged with a state misdemeanor or felony depending on the degree of the offense. The legislation also authorizes state judges to deport illegal aliens back to Mexico if they see fit, rather than pursue prosecution under federal law.

Enacted to give Texas the power to combat the border crisis, SB 4 officially makes illegal immigration a state crime. As demonstrated by the lawsuit, the Biden administration isn’t pleased with Abbott taking matters of immigration enforcement into his own hands.

“Texas cannot run its own immigration system,” the suit reads. “Its efforts, through SB 4, intrude on the federal government’s exclusive authority to regulate the entry and removal of noncitizens, frustrate the United States’ immigration operations and proceedings, and interfere with U.S. foreign relations. SB 4 is invalid and must be enjoined.”

Under the Supreme Court’s Arizona v. U.S. 2012 ruling, which the Justice Department’s filing cites, no state can create or implement immigration laws or policies that are preempted by federal law.

However, Abbott doesn’t seem to be shaken by the litigation.

“Biden sued me today because I signed a law making it illegal for an illegal immigrant to enter or attempt to enter Texas directly from a foreign nation. I like my chances,” Abbott posted on X, touting the fact that Texas is the only state “trying to stop illegal immigration” while the Biden administration lets in hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants.

In November, approximately 242,000 illegal immigrants were documented trying to cross the southern border. That number is expected to be much higher for December, which reportedly saw over 302,000 illegal migrant encounters, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection sources. CBP will release last month’s data sometime in January.

Texas must also deal with a lawsuit brought forward by the American Civil Liberties Union and two other progressive activist organizations, which are all suing the state over the same law.

The Justice Department is also involved in the legal battles attempting to remove Texas’s concertina-wire fencing and bouy barriers, the latter of which were ordered to be removed by a federal appeals court in early December. That order was subsequently dismissed a week later. The fights regarding the razor wire and floating barriers are still ongoing.