Legal Insurrection by William A. Jacobson 8/3/2021
“The Executive Order causes irreparable injury to the United States and to individuals the United States is charged with protecting, jeopardizing the health and safety of non-citizens in federal custody, risking the safety of federal law enforcement personnel and their families, and exacerbating the spread of COVID-19.”
Faced with a COVID surge corresponding to an illegal migrant surge on the southern border, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an executive order restricting transport of persons detained by border patrol and ICE to local, state, and federal law enforcement. That would exclude the many private companies and groups used by the feds to move illeal migrants not just around Texas, but further into the U.S.
The federal government sued, claiming the Texas Order infringed on federal control of immigration, DOJ Sues Texas To Continue Private Transport of Illegal Migrants Despite COVID Risks. You can read the Complaint and Motion for a Temprorary Restraining Order, and the arguments of the feds, at the link.
I expected the argument in opposition to be that while the feds control immigration, Texas still controls public health in Texas:
Yes, the feds have control of immigration, but federal non-enforcement of federal law is creating a health crisis. States have the power to protect public health in a pandemic. And Texas, the argument would go, is not regulating immigration, it’s regulating public health, and there is no infringement on federal immigration because Texas itself is not deporting people.
As outrageous as Biden’s malfeasance is, Texas has an uphill legal fight.
More:
https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/08/court-issues-temporary-restraining-order-halting-texas-illegal-migrant-transport-ban/
