The U.S. Department of Justice filed suit Friday afternoon to stop an order by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to restrict the transportation of migrants who had previously been detained by the federal immigration authorities.
The suit, filed in El Paso in the U.S. District Court for the Western District, is the latest in an escalating battle between Abbott and the administration of President Joe Biden. The Texas attorney general has filed five suits against the Biden administration — all related to immigration.
The suit alleges that Abbott’s executive order violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which says that federal laws take precedence over state laws. It also argues that the order causes injury to individuals whom the U.S. is charged to protect, “jeopardizing the health and safety of noncitizens in federal custody, risking the safety of federal law enforcement personnel and their families, and exacerbating the spread of COVID-19 in our communities.”
The Justice Department is seeking an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order. Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland called Abbott’s order “both dangerous and unlawful.”
Abbott, a Republican running for re-election, has accused the Biden administration of exposing Texas to COVID-19 and “creating a public health disaster in Texas.”
Abbott’s executive order issued on Wednesday took effect immediately. It ordered the state Department of Public Safety to detain those vehicles, who were transporting migrants following their detention by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The order stipulated that vehicles be rerouted to a point of origin or a port of entry if a violation is confirmed.
The measure was immediately criticized by attorneys and immigration nonprofits as unconstitutional and likely to create further havoc. Rising numbers of immigrants and asylum-seekers have been apprehended in recent months, particularly families and unaccompanied minors. The increase continued in the last two months despite the summer heat which traditionally brings a decline in migration.
Abbott quickly retorted back Friday afternoon that the Biden administration has sat on “the sidelines” on immigration matters. Abbott said he had the legal authority under “long-established emergency response laws to control the movement of people to better contain the spread of a disaster, such as those known to have COVID-19.”
Abbott charged, in a written statement, that the Biden administration has “created a constitutional crisis between the federal government and the State of Texas.”
