Texas Border Security Law Draws Threat of DOJ Lawsuit

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has threatened Texas Gov. Greg Abbott that it will sue the state if it implements legislation allowing police to remove people from the country who are suspected of crossing the border illegally.

Senate Bill 4 gives state and local law enforcement the ability to arrest people they believe are in the country illegally. It was passed by the Legislature in November during a special session called by Abbott and signed into law Dec. 18 by the governor. It takes effect March 5.

In a letter to Abbott, according to the Houston Chronicle, the DOJ wrote that if he does not confirm by Jan. 3 the state will not enforce Senate Bill 4, “the United States will pursue all appropriate legal remedies to ensure that Texas does not interfere with the functions of the federal government.”

Under the umbrella of Operation Lone Star, Texas has implemented strict border policies in defiance of the Biden administration, which contends it alone has authority over immigration enforcement.
The DOJ filed a lawsuit in July over a 1,000-foot-long string of buoys the state placed in the Rio Grande River, which separates Texas from Mexico, to deter illegal immigrants from crossing.

A U.S. District Court judge issued a preliminary injunction in August that ordered Texas to remove the buoys, but the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans in September granted the state’s request to halt the injunction.
The Fifth Circuit also issued a preliminary injunction Dec. 19 prohibiting Border Patrol agents from cutting razor wire the state put up along a 29-mile stretch of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas.

The DOJ in its letter pointed to a 2012 Supreme Court ruling in Arizona v. United States that struck down key parts of an Arizona law that sought to deter illegal immigration but let stand a provision allowing police to check a person’s immigration status while enforcing other laws.
Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in his majority opinion of the 5-3 decision that “The National Government has significant power to regulate immigration.
Arizona may have understandable frustrations with the problems caused by illegal immigration while that process continues, but the State may not pursue policies that undermine federal law.”

The DOJ’s letter stated, “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.'” 

The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and the Texas Civil Rights Project filed a lawsuit Dec. 19 challenging the Texas law, claiming it is unconstitutional and that it is preempted by federal law.

Newsmax reached out to Abbott and the DOJ for comment.