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The Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued a warning to Texas Governor Greg Abbott, threatening legal action if Texas enforces a new state law aimed at prosecuting and deporting migrants.

Governor Abbott, who signed the legislation amidst a surge of migrant encounters at the US southern border, is facing pushback for the law scheduled to take effect on March 5. The controversial legislation allows Texas law enforcement to arrest individuals suspected of illegally entering the country.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton stated in a letter to Abbott, “The Lone Star State’s new law is unconstitutional and disrupts the federal government’s immigration enforcement operations.” He further referenced the 2012 Supreme Court case, Arizona v. United States, to emphasize the federal precedence over state immigration laws. Boynton’s letter explicitly warned, “If Abbott does not inform the DOJ that the state will give up enforcement of the new law by Jan. 3, ‘the United States will pursue all appropriate legal remedies to ensure that Texas does not interfere with the functions of the federal government.'”

Governor Abbott, unyielded by the DOJ’s warning, said, “The Biden Administration not only refuses to enforce current US immigration laws, they now want to stop Texas from enforcing laws against illegal immigration… I’ve never seen such hostility to the rule of law in America. Biden is destroying America. Texas is trying to save it.”

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This standoff marks another escalation in Abbott’s broader strategy to tackle migration issues in Texas, which has included transporting migrants to sanctuary cities and authorizing more border wall construction.

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