DOJ sues Texas over law that would let police arrest migrants who enter US illegally

The Justice Department on Wednesday sued Texas over a new law that would allow police to arrest migrants who enter the U.S. illegally, taking Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to court again over his escalating response to border crossers arriving from Mexico.

The lawsuit draws Texas into another clash over immigration at a time when New York and Chicago are pushing back on buses and planes carrying migrants sent by Abbott to Democrat-led cities nationwide. Texas is also fighting separate court battles to keep razor wire on the border and a floating barrier in the Rio Grande.

But a law Abbott signed last month poses a broader and bigger challenge to the U.S. government's authority over immigration. In addition to allowing police anywhere in Texas to arrest migrants on charges of illegal entry, the law — known as Senate Bill 4 — also gives judges the authority to order migrants to leave the country.

"Texas cannot run its own immigration system," the Justice Department states in the lawsuit. “Its efforts, through SB 4, intrude on the federal government’s exclusive authority to regulate the entry and removal of noncitizens, frustrate the United States’ immigration operations and proceedings, and interfere with U.S. foreign relations.”

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Austin, asks a court to declare the Texas law unconstitutional, alleging that it interferes with the federal government’s right to regulate foreign commerce and prohibits the state from enforcing it.

The law is set to take effect in March.

U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson visited Eagle Pass, Texas, Wednesday with 64 other house republicans.

“One thing is absolutely clear: America is at a breaking point of record-level illegal immigration,” Johnson said at a news conference.

Johnson added Governor Greg Abbott has the authority to do what's needed.

“So if you are the governor of Texas, or a border state, or any governor, you have the right, the responsibility, the constitutional authority to do the right thing and secure your people,” Johnson said. “So, we applaud him and stand with him in that resolve.”

The U.S. Department of Justice gave Texas a deadline of Wednesday to refrain from enforcing Senate Bill 4, or it will file suit saying it's unconstitutional.

Governor Abbott’s spokesperson, Renae Eze, released a statement Tuesday saying, "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. 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.”

Dallas immigration attorney Fernando Dubove worries about how this may be enforced while the courts sort this out.

“I've been doing immigration law for 25 years, and I'm still learning the ropes,” Dubove said. “So I can imagine a police officer, a rookie cop, who just gets, I don't know, three or 4 hours of basic training and then a long leash to go pick them all up and decide from there who you can and cannot detain.”

As the Department of Justice and Governor Abbott continue their battle, the organization LULAC said it is ready to take legal action.

“That LULAC will continue to monitor all these violations of civil rights,” LULAC Council 4782 President Hilda Duarte said. “We're prepared also to back it up with lawsuits for all these violations because we need to protect all the people that are affected by these outrageous, overreaching laws.”

President Joe Biden has expressed willingness to make policy compromises because the number of migrants crossing the border is an increasing challenge for his 2024 reelection campaign. Johnson praised Abbott, who was not in Eagle Pass, and slammed the lawsuits that seek to undo Texas' aggressive border measures.

“It's absolute insanity,” Johnson said.

Illegal crossings along the southern U.S. border topped 10,000 on several days in December, a number that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Commissioner Troy Miller called “unprecedented.” U.S. authorities closed cargo rail crossings in Eagle Pass and El Paso for five days last month, calling it a response to a large number of migrants riding freight trains through Mexico to the border.

Authorities this week also resumed full operations at a bridge in Eagle Pass and other crossings in San Diego and Arizona that had been temporarily closed.

Legal experts and opponents say Texas' new law is the most far-reaching attempt by a state to police immigration since a 2010 Arizona law that the U.S. Supreme Court partially struck down.

Under Texas law, migrants could either agree to a Texas judge’s order to leave the U.S. or be prosecuted on misdemeanor charges of illegal entry. Migrants who don’t leave could face arrest again under more serious felony charges.

Those ordered to leave would be sent to ports of entry along the border with Mexico, even if they are not Mexican citizens. The law can be enforced anywhere in Texas but some places are off-limits, including schools and churches.

For more than two years, Texas has run a smaller-scale operation on the border to arrest migrants on misdemeanor charges of trespassing. Although that was also intended to stem illegal crossings, there is little indication that it has done so.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.