Justice Department threatens to sue Texas over immigration enforcement law
The legislation recently signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott would allow state and local police to arrest migrants who illegally cross the border into Texas.
The Justice Department is threatening to sue Texas if it enforces a new state law that lets police arrest migrants who illegally cross the border, according to a letter obtained by NBC News.
In the letter, sent Thursday to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, the Justice Department argued that the law, which Abbott signed this month, is unconstitutional and that implementing it would result in a federal lawsuit.
The statute "effectively creates a separate state immigration scheme by imposing criminal penalties for violations of federal provisions on unlawful entry and reentry into the United States ... and by authorizing state judges to order the removal of noncitizens from the United States,” wrote Brian Boynton, a top official in the Justice Department's civil division.
The letter was first reported by the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News.
The state law makes “illegal entry from a foreign nation” into Texas a crime and allows the state to charge migrants with a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail or a $2,000 fine. It is set to go into effect March 5.
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