The Biden Department of Justice warned Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Thursday that it will take legal action if the state enforces a new law that allows authorities to arrest, jail, prosecute and deport illegal aliens.
In a letter to Abbott, a Justice Department official said that SB4 or Senate Bill 4 was unconstitutional and “contrary to the US commitment of ensuring the processing of noncitizens consistent with the Immigration and Nationality Act,” the New York Post reported.
The law, which is slated to take effect on March 5, 2024, makes it a state crime to cross the Texas-Mexico border between ports of entry and gives Texas judges the authority to order illegal immigrants to leave the country.
The offense will be a Class B misdemeanor carrying a punishment of up to six months in jail. Repeat offenders would potentially face a second-degree felony and a punishment of two to 20 years in prison.
Under the new law, illegal immigrants in police custody would be given the choice to either agree to the judge’s order to leave the U.S. or be prosecuted on misdemeanor charges of illegal entry.
Judges would be able to drop the charges if migrants agree to return to Mexico.
Illegal aliens ordered to leave would be sent across ports of entry back to Mexico, even if they are not Mexican citizens, according to the measure.
Those caught re-entering the country would face penalties ranging from 180 days in jail to 20 years in prison. Migrants who refuse to leave could face arrest again with stiffer penalties under felony charges.
“SB 4 is preempted and violates the United States Constitution,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton wrote in the letter. “Accordingly, the United States intends to file suit to enjoin the enforcement of SB 4 unless Texas agrees to refrain from enforcing the law.”
The new law “intrudes into a field that is occupied by the federal government and is preempted,” Boynton continued.
“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,’” he said.
Boynton also claimed that enforcement of the new law would lead to migrants with legitimate asylum claims being imprisoned or deported to countries where they would face “persecution or torture.”
The DOJ demanded that Abbott respond by Jan. 3, with a confirmation that he will not enforce the new law.
In a post on social media, Abbott blasted the Biden regime’s “hostility to the rule of law” and accused Joe Biden of “destroying America.”
“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,” the governor said in an X post. “I’ve never seen such hostility to the rule of law in America. Biden is destroying America. Texas is trying to save it.”
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. https://t.co/CrvkBaiH8E
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) December 28, 2023
A spokesman for Abbott told The Post that Texas will take the legal battle over enforcing SB 4 to the Supreme Court, if necessary.
“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,” Abbott rep Renae Eze said in a statement.
“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.”
X owner Elon Musk shared The Post’s story on X Friday, commenting simply, “Amazing.”
As part of Operation Lone Star, Governor Abbott has bussed more than 65,000 border crossers to so-called sanctuary cities, including New York and Chicago. Texas also constructed a floating barrier in the Rio Grande, which courts ordered the governor to remove.
Additionally, Abbott had concertina wire placed along the banks of the Rio Grande to block migrants from entering the country illegally.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the Biden regime in October after federal agents were seen removing the razor wire barriers. Paxton’s lawsuit accused the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) of interfering with state efforts to secure the border.
On October 30, U.S. District Judge Alia Moses issued a temporary restraining order blocking the regime from using federal agents to interfere with the razor wire barriers.
“The Court grants the motion for a temporary restraining order until the parties have an opportunity to present evidence at a preliminary injunction hearing before the Court,” Judge Moses said in her ruling.
The order was to last until November 13th, but was extended to Monday, November 27.
On November 30, a federal judge denied Paxton’s request to stop Border Patrol agents from cutting the razor wire barriers, but chided the Biden regime for allowing the illegal entries to continue unabated.
“The law may be on the side of the [Biden regime] and compel a resolution in their favor today, but it does not excuse their culpable and duplicitous conduct,” U.S. District Judge Alia Moses of Del Rio wrote in her ruling.
In her order, Moses said she understands why Border Patrol agents may be cutting the wire, especially in cases of emergencies to prevent injuries or deaths at the Rio Grande, where countless migrants have died. Still, she said, those problems “are of their own creation.”
“Any rational observer could not help but wonder why the Defendants do not just allow migrants to access the country at a port of entry,” Mose wrote “If agents are going to allow migrants to enter the country, and indeed facilitate their doing so, why make them undertake the dangerous task of crossing the river? Would it not be easier, and safer, to receive them at a port of entry?”