The Biden administration threatens to sue Texas over law criminalizing migrants
The Democratic government argues that the rule, which will allow local authorities to deport people starting in March, is unconstitutional
One of the great legal battles of 2024 is beginning to take shape. The Joe Biden administration threatened on Thursday to sue Texas over the SB4 law, one of the toughest regulations against irregular immigration in the United States, as it allows local authorities to detain and initiate deportation proceedings for any person without papers. The rule was signed by Texas Governor Greg Abbot on December 18, but will go into effect on March 5. The federal government argues that the law violates the U.S. Constitution, and that it will take it to court if it comes into force.
“Because SB4 is unconstitutional and will disrupt the federal government’s operations, we request that Texas forbear in its enforcement,” the U.S. Department of Justice said in a letter addressed to Abbott. The document is signed by prosecutor Brian Boynton, the right-hand man of Attorney General Merrick Garland. The letter, which has been published by the CBS network, calls on Texas authorities to respond before January 3, 2024.
At the center of the dispute is the role that the Texas police will play if SB4 comes into force. The law creates new crimes for those who enter the country illegally and do not have U.S. citizenship. The new rules, approved by the Republican majority in Texas’ state Congress, put in place a system that allows local judges to initiate deportation proceedings for immigrants.
The Department of Justice argues that the law gives local authorities functions that the U.S. Constitution grants to federal officials, including regulating immigration and controlling international borders. The letter cites the case of SB170, a law that an ultra-conservative Arizona government approved in 2010 to increase the detention of immigrants. The rule was fought in court by the Obama administration, and over the years received several legal setbacks that rendered it little more than a dead letter. The conclusion of the long judicial process, which reached the Supreme Court in 2012, underlined the broad powers of the U.S. government in immigration matters.
According to Boynton, the Texas rule interferes with the process that federal authorities follow for immigrants. It also hinders some of the rights that newcomers to the United States have, such as the right to request asylum to avoid being returned to their countries to be persecuted or tortured.
In the letter, the Biden administration also points out that the new law has sparked discomfort in the Mexico government. Governor Abbott intends to return to Mexican territory anyone who crosses illegally into the United States, regardless of whether or not they are citizens of that country. “SB4 likewise improperly regulates the movement of persons across an international boundary and undermines the United States’ foreign relations,” the document states.
Abbott has already responded to the threat. “I’ve never seen such hostility to the rule of law in America,” the governor wrote on his social networks. “The Biden administration not only refuses to enforce current U.S. immigration laws, they now want to stop Texas from enforcing laws against illegal immigration.”
The politician has already implemented other controversial measures to reduce the number of immigrants in Texas. He has sent hundreds of migrants to cities governed by Democrats and installed a floating wall of buoys in the Rio Grande and razor wire along the border wall. The federal government has turned to the courts to stop some of these strategies.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition
