DOJ Threatens To Sue Texas Over Law Enabling State Authorities To Arrest Migrants Who Enter Illegally

The Department of Justice (DOJ) threatened to sue Texas if the state enforces a new law empowering local officials to arrest migrants who enter illegally, according to The Houston Chronicle.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton told Gov. Greg Abbott that the law is unconstitutional because the federal government is responsible for controlling international borders, according to the letter obtained by Hearst Newspapers. The DOJ will “pursue all appropriate legal remedies” if Abbott declines to halt enforcement of the law by Jan. 3, the Chronicle reported.

Abbott signed the bill into law, along with other border security legislation, on Dec. 18.

“President Biden has repeatedly refused to enforce federal immigration laws already on the books and do his job to secure the border,” Abbott previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “In his absence, Texas has the constitutional authority to secure our border through historic laws like SB 4. Texas will take this fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary to protect Texans from President Biden’s dangerous open border policies.”