(LibertySons.org) – The Biden administration is continuing its game of legal whack-a-mole with red states that are introducing new laws on illegal migrants. The Justice Department says immigration is a federal responsibility. States say that if the White House won’t fix the problem, they’ll do it themselves.
Oklahoma Passes Migrant Law
On April 30, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed House Bill 4156 into law. The bill gives state police the power to arrest illegal immigrants for a new misdemeanor offense of “impermissible occupation,” which carries a penalty of up to a year in jail or a $500 fine.
Second or subsequent offenses become a felony punishable by two years in prison. Offenders will also have to leave the state within 72 hours of being convicted or released from custody. Oklahoma officials say the law is necessary to deal with the growing number of marijuana farms run by illegal immigrants.
However, the Department of Justice says the law “intrudes into a field that is occupied by the federal government.” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton has written to Governor Stitt and Oklahoma Gentner Drummond, warning them the administration would file a suit unless Oklahoma “agrees to refrain from enforcing the law.”
Of course, the reason Oklahoma brought in the law is that the federal government is refraining from enforcing its own laws on illegal immigration.
State Laws Are A Growing Trend
Oklahoma isn’t the first state that, frustrated by the Biden administration’s refusal to secure our borders, has taken matters into its own hands. Last November, Texas passed Senate Bill 4, which creates the offense of entering Texas illegally and gives state courts the power to deport illegal immigrants. That law is currently on hold; it’s been blocked twice by federal courts, although the US Supreme Court allowed it to go into effect in March.
In April, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds (R) signed Senate File 2340, which makes entering Iowa if you’re in the US illegally an aggravated misdemeanor; again, the DoJ has sued the state in federal court.
The Biden administration seems determined to stop states from taking action on illegal immigration while being unwilling to fix the problem itself, but Republican state governments are equally determined to push ahead. Responding to the DoJ’s threats, Drummond warned that Oklahoma has both a right and an obligation to protect its citizens.
Meanwhile, Arizona Republicans are pushing to put a similar proposal on a ballot in November, and Louisiana legislators are working on their own bill. If the administration wants to keep control of immigration policy, it’s going to be busy.
~Here’s to Our Liberty!
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