Biden administration set to sue Texas as US Speaker visits border

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- The Department of Justice is expected to file a lawsuit against Texas and its controversial new border security law on Wednesday, accusing the state of infringing on federal authority and empowering local police to unconstitutionally arrest suspected illegal immigrants.

Last week, federal authorities threatened to sue to block Senate Bill 4 if Gov. Greg Abbott did not assure them the state will not enforce the law by Jan. 3.

“SB 4 effectively creates a separate state immigration scheme by imposing criminal penalties for violations of federal provisions on unlawful entry and reentry into the United States…and by authorizing state judges to order the removal of noncitizens from the United States,” the DOJ wrote in a letter sent to Abbott and obtained by Nexstar. “SB 4, therefore, intrudes into a field that is occupied by the federal government and is preempted.”

Abbott signed the bill into law last month, telling Nexstar in a border bill signing ceremony in Brownsville that he believes the law is constitutional but would welcome a Supreme Court challenge to test the current balance of power over immigration law.

“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,” Abbott's communications director Renae Eze said. “President Biden’s deliberate and dangerous inaction at our southern border has left Texas to fend for itself."

The looming legal battle comes as Congressional Republicans are forging a stark split-screen with the Biden administration on Wednesday. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson is making his first public trip of his tenure as speaker to Eagle Pass, leading more than 50 House Republicans to tour the border and meet with Texas law enforcement.

Eagle Pass has been the epicenter of the humanitarian crisis on the southern border — and the political crisis in the White House. Federal immigration authorities encountered more than 300,000 migrants in December, including more than 71,000 in the sector including Eagle Pass. Only 32% of Americans are confident in President Biden's ability to make wise decisions on immigration policy, Pew Research Center reported in December.

Senate Bill 4 is set to go into effect in March unless a federal challenge puts it on pause.