Biden admin threatens to sue Texas for arresting, deporting illegal immigrants

The Biden administration's Department of Justice is threatening to sue Texas for attempting to protect its southern border from illegal immigration, according to documents obtained by CBS News Thursday.

What's the background?

Last week, Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 4 into law, slated to go into effect on March 5. The new legislation would make illegal immigration a class B misdemeanor in Texas, allowing local authorities to arrest, detain, prosecute, and deport migrants. Illegal immigrants who refuse to leave could be charged with a second-degree felony and sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.

The bill "creates a criminal offense for illegal entry into this state from a foreign nation," Abbott's office stated in a recent press release. "The law cracks down on repeated attempts to enter Texas by creating the offense of illegal reentry and penalizes offenders with up to 20 years in prison. It also provides the mechanism to order an offender to return to the foreign nation from which the person entered or attempted to enter this state. The law provides civil immunity and indemnification for local and state government officials, employees, and contractors for lawsuits resulting from the enforcement of these provisions."

Additionally, under the new law, individuals caught smuggling illegal immigrants into the state would be sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in prison.

Abbott stated, "Four years ago, the United States had the fewest illegal border crossings in decades."

"It was because of four policies put in place by the Trump Administration that led to such a low number of illegal crossings. President Biden has eliminated all of those policies and done nothing to halt illegal immigration. President Biden's deliberate inaction has left Texas to fend for itself," Abbott continued. "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."

Biden admin threatens to sue

A DOJ letter obtained Thursday by CBS News revealed that Biden's White House is threatening to take legal action against Texas.

In the letter, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton told Abbott that Senate Bill 4 "is preempted and violates the United States Constitution."

"Accordingly, the United States intends to file suit to enjoin the enforcement of SB 4 unless Texas agrees to refrain from enforcing the law," Boynton continued. "The United States is committed to both securing the border and ensuring the processing of noncitizens consistent with the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). SB 4 is contrary to these goals."

The DOJ's letter claimed that Texas' new law "intrudes into a field that is occupied by the federal government" and "conflicts with various provisions of the INA."

"[T]he Department of Justice intends to bring a lawsuit to enforce the supremacy of federal law and to enjoin the operation of SB 4. If you have not confirmed by January 3, 2024, that Texas will forbear enforcement of SB 4, the United States will pursue all appropriate legal remedies to ensure that Texas does not interfere with the functions of the federal government," the letter concluded.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was also sent a copy of the DOJ's letter.

Renae Eze, a spokesperson for Abbott, told CBS News that Texas is ready to defend the new law.

"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," Eze stated. "President Biden's deliberate and dangerous inaction at our southern border has left Texas to fend for itself. Governor Abbott signed Senate Bill 4 into law last week to help stop the tidal wave of illegal entry into Texas as the President refuses to enforce federal immigration laws."

Abbott posted on X 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."

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