Justice Department sues Texas over state law allowing police to arrest migrants who cross the border illegally
Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed the measure into law last month. The Justice Department then threatened legal action if Texas enforced the measure.
The Justice Department on Wednesday sued Texas over a new law that lets state and local police arrest migrants who illegally cross the border, the latest legal battle between the Biden administration and Gov. Greg Abbott over immigration.
In the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Austin, prosecutors said the Texas statute violates the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, which holds that federal law takes precedence over state law and details the existing framework for removing and imposing federal criminal penalties on those who enter the country illegally. The U.S. “must speak with one voice in immigration matters,” prosecutors wrote.
They also argued that the new law would “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.”
The Justice Department asked the court to declare the law invalid and to block Texas from enforcing it before it takes effect March 5.
The Justice Department last week threatened legal action against Texas over the measure, signed last month by Abbott, a Republican, which makes it a criminal offense to enter the state illegally.
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