Justice Dept. Threatens to Sue Texas Over Migrant Arrest Law

The Justice Department on Thursday threatened to sue Texas if it enforced a sweeping new law that would allow the state and local police to arrest migrants who enter the United States from Mexico without authorization, setting up the first significant legal showdown over federal immigration enforcement.

Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas signed the measure, known as Senate Bill 4, this month in his most direct challenge yet to the Biden administration’s handling of immigration. Immigrant-rights groups and Hispanic organizations had opposed the legislation, arguing that it would violate the U.S. Constitution and encourage racial profiling.

In a letter obtained by The New York Times, Brian M. Boynton, an assistant attorney general with the D.O.J., gave Mr. Abbott until next Wednesday to retract his intention to enforce the law, which takes effect in early March. Otherwise, he wrote, “the Department of Justice intends to bring a lawsuit to enforce the supremacy of federal law and to enjoin the operation of S.B. 4.”