(NewsInsights.org) – State Republican leaders have complained bitterly about the Biden administration’s multiple failures at the southern border. So far, three states have passed laws allowing state officials to fine, jail, and expel immigrants who entered the US without legal authorization. On May 21, the Justice Department (DOJ) filed suit against Oklahoma, the last of the three states to implement a law criminalizing “impermissible occupation.”
Using what has become a boilerplate complaint, the DOJ brought suit against the implementation of Oklahoma’s House Bill 4156 (HB 4156) and compared it to Texas Senate Bill 4 (SB4) and Iowa’s Senate File 2340 (SF 2340). The DOJ argued that the laws would create state-specified immigration regulations, violating the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.
The complaint also referred to Supreme Court precedents and opinions that favor federal laws over state laws in immigration matters. The lawsuit specific to Oklahoma described the state’s new crime of “impermissible occupation.”
Under HB 4156, a non-citizen commits impermissible occupation by entering and remaining in Oklahoma “willfully and without permission” after entering the US without legal authorization. The state law proposes a $500 fine or a one-year prison sentence for violators, generally making the offense a misdemeanor.
However, the law provides for circumstances when prosecutors can pursue the offense as a felony with increased penalties, including a $1000 fine and a two-year prison sentence. All non-citizens must leave the state within 72 hours of release from custody or conviction.
Texas was the first state to enact a similar immigrant law in 2023. However, the DOJ filed suit over the measure. Iowa passed a similar law in late April. The DOJ responded with a lawsuit on May 9.
On May 15, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton wrote Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, warning him that the DOJ would file suit if he signed HB 4156 into law because it would violate the Constitution and federal law. On May 17, Gentner Drummond, Oklahoma’s Attorney General, responded to Boynton with his own letter.
He called the DOJ letter to Stitt “disingenuous” and said Boynton made a false assertion by stating the Biden administration remained “committed to […] processing […] noncitizens consistent with the Immigration and Nationality Act.” Drummond also wrote that “millions of law-abiding” Oklahoma residents wouldn’t “accept lectures or threats […] from this failed Administration.”
Copyright 2024, NewsInsights.org
