The White House described a new immigration law in Texas allowing law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants as “extreme” on Tuesday, igniting the latest tension between the Biden administration and states at the southern border over its handling of the migrant crisis.
The new law The new legislation, signed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday, allows law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants, who would then be given the option of leaving the country or being prosecuted for misdemeanor
charges for illegal entry. don’t comply could face arrest again and more serious felony charges.
felony charges.A spokesperson derided the new law as “extreme” and argued it “will make communities in Texas less safe.”
TEXAS GOV. ABBOTT SIGNS BILL MAKING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION A STATE CRIME
“Generally speaking, the federal government — not individual states — is charged with determining how and when to remove noncitizens for violating immigration laws,” the spokesperson said.
“This is certainly extreme as we see it,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre emphasized Tuesday. “And it is incredibly unfortunate.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott during a panel discussion at the Yale Club in Manhattan
The tension between Texas and the administration was also on display Tuesday when a federal appeals court temporarily blocked the Biden administration from cutting razor wire set up by Texas earlier this year. The state had suedThe state sued in October and was turned down by a federal judge, but the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals barred the Biden administration from “damaging, destroying, or otherwise interfering with Texas’s [concertina wire] fence in the vicinity of Eagle Pass, Texas” unless it was for a medium
cal emergency. Ken Paxton and I will hold Biden and [DHS Secretary Aleandro] Mayorkas accountable for attacking Texas’ sovereign authority and their attempts to obstruct our border security efforts,” Abbott said in a statement.
FEDERAL APPEALS COURT BLOCKS BIDEN ADMIN FROM REMOVING TEXAS’ RAZOR WIRE AT SOUTHERN BORDER
E AT THE SOUTHERN BORDThis legal battle is taking place alongside another legal battle between the Department of Justice and Texas over the deployment of buoys in the Rio Grande in Texas to prevent
grants from swimming across. are designed to save lives by preventing people from entering the river, but humanitarian groups and the DOJ argue the barrier poses a safety risk.
“The State of Texas’s actions violate federal law, raise humanitarian concerns, pose serious risks to public safety and the environment, and may interfere with the federal government’s ability to carry out its official duties,” the DOJ said in a letter to Abbott before the suit.
as filed.eraThe same federal appeals court recently ruled that Texas must remove 1,000 feet of the barrier, prompting Abbott to promise that if necessary, he will go to the Supreme Court to have the barrier reinstalled. has also criticized Abbott for his moves to bus migrants to “sanctuary” cities, including Chicago and New York City. Abbott has in turn accused the Biden administration of not doing its job to secure the southern border.
Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs delivers her state of the state address at the Arizona Capitol in PhoenixO
On Tuesday, the White House attacked Abbott over what it says are “political stunts.”
“We believe that Gov. Abbott’s policies and political stunts are not safe, not safe for Texas communities and our CBP, our law enforcement on the ground, who are trying to do their work. It puts them in harm’s way, and they dehumanize and demonize immigrants. That is what his political stunts accomplish,”
THE SOUTHERN BORDER WAS HIT BY A RECORD NUMBER OF MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS IN A SINGLE DAY, WITH THOUSANDS FLOODING INTO TEXAS.EXAS
But the administration has also taken heat in recent days from neighboring Arizona, where Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs has fumed at what she has said is a lack of action from the federal government. On Friday, after pushing President Biden to reassign the Arizona National Guard to the Lukeville port of entry, which had been besieged by a new migrant wave, she announced she was herself mobilizing the Guard.
“The government refuses to do its job of securing our borders and keeping our communities safe,” Hobbs said in a statement. said in a statement. “With this executive order, I am taking action where the fedBut we cannot do it alone. We can’t stand alone. Arizona needs resources and manpower to reopen the Lukeville crossing, manage the flow of migrants, and maintain a secure, orderly, and humane border.
“Despite continued requests for assistance, the Biden administration has refused to deliver desperately needed resources to Arizona’s border.”
