One of the big legal battles of 2024 is slowly taking shape. The administration of Joe Biden threatened this Thursday to sue Texas over the SB4 law, one of the strictest regulations in the United States against irregular immigration, since it allows authorities to detain and initiate deportation proceedings for any undocumented person. The rule was signed by Gov. Greg Abbot on December 18th but will take effect on March 5th. The federal government is of the opinion that the regulation violates the constitution and will therefore appeal to the courts when it comes into force.
“We ask Texas to refrain from implementing SB4 because it is unconstitutional and will interfere with the federal government’s operations,” the Justice Department said in a letter. The document is signed by Attorney General Brian Boynton, Attorney General Merrick Garland's right-hand man. The letter, published by the CBS network, requires local authorities to respond before January 3, 2024.
At the heart of the dispute between Washington and state authorities is the role Texas police will play if the rule goes into effect. The bill creates new crimes for those who enter the company illegally and do not have U.S. citizenship. The law, passed by the Republican majority in Congress, establishes a system that allows local judges to initiate deportation proceedings for immigrants.
Migrants cross the Rio Grande from Piedras Negras towards Eagle Pass on December 21.CHENEY ORR (Portal)
The Justice Department argues that the rule assigns to local authorities functions that the Constitution assigns to federal officials, including regulating immigration and controlling international borders. As background, the letter cites the case of SB170, a law passed in 2010 by an ultra-conservative Arizona administration to increase immigration detention. The Obama administration fought the rule in court and suffered several legal setbacks over the years, leaving it little more than a dead letter. The conclusion of the long legal case, which ended before the Supreme Court in 2012, underscored the broad powers of the United States government over immigration issues.
Boynton said the rule interferes with the process federal authorities follow for immigrants. It also affects some of the rights that newcomers to the United States have, such as the ability to seek asylum to avoid being returned to their country to face persecution or torture.
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In the letter, the Biden administration acknowledges the unease that the new law has caused the Mexican government. Governor Abbott intends to send back to Mexican territory those who enter the United States illegally, regardless of whether they are citizens of that country or not. “SB4 also improperly regulates the movement of people across international borders, thereby undermining the foreign relations of the United States,” the document states.
Governor Abbott has already responded to the threat. “I have never seen such hostility to legality,” the president wrote on his social networks. “Not only is the Biden administration refusing to enforce current immigration laws, it is now trying to stop Texas from doing so,” he said. The politician has already taken other controversial measures to reduce the number of immigrants in his area. He has chosen to send hundreds of people to cities run by Democrats, build a floating wall in the Rio Grande and fence the border with barbed wire. The federal government has turned to the courts to stop some of its policies.
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