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The US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Texas and its governor, Greg Abbott, on Friday over an order the Republican governor signed banning the ground transportation of migrants who may be carriers of COVID-19.
In a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of El Paso, the Department of Justice said Abbott’s order interferes with the federal government’s ability to deal with immigration.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott speaks at a press conference where he signed two energy-related bills on Tuesday, June 8, 2021, in Austin, Texas.
(PA)
This followed the threat of legal action by Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday following the governor’s order. Garland told Abbott to “immediately rescind” the executive order which he called “both dangerous and illegal.”
“The Executive Order violates federal law in many ways, and Texas cannot legally enforce the Executive Order against any federal official or private party working with the United States,” Garland wrote in a letter to Abbott.
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The executive order issued by Abbott on Wednesday restricted ground transportation for migrants “who pose a risk of carrying COVID-19 to communities in Texas.”
Abbott argued his order was necessary to counter the increase in illegal immigration under the Biden administration. He accused President Biden’s border policies of being complicit in the spread of COVID-19.
Texas Department of Public Safety officers work with a group of migrants who have crossed the border and made their way to Del Rio, Texas.
(AP / File)
“The Biden administration is knowingly admitting hundreds of thousands of unauthorized migrants, many of whom, the federal government knows full well, have COVID-19,” Abbott said in response to Garland’s lawsuit.
“To be clear, the Biden administration is openly considering impending closures and mandates for U.S. citizens to control the spread of COVID-19, at the same time the administration is knowingly making the problem worse by importing COVID-19 at rates extremes. ”
Abbott issued the order a day after police in La Joya, Texas said migrants in the country illegally, who may have tested positive for COVID-19, were released from federal detention and placed in a local hotel by a charity, which left them free to wander away. Police learned of the situation when residents of a nearby Whataburger complained about a group of sick-looking people not wearing masks as they coughed and sneezed inside the restaurant.
Meanwhile, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the Lone Star State “will not back down” and pledged to uphold the Governor’s Order and “keep President Biden out of government business. Texas”.
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The lawsuit exacerbates tensions between the Biden administration and Abbott over the governor’s actions at the border, which include imprisoning migrants for state crimes and building new fences.
The Rio Grande Valley border patrol sector, the busiest corridor for illegal crossings, had more than 8,300 migrants in custody on Wednesday, with an average processing time of 57 hours, said Brian Hastings, the head of the sector. The sector has freed more than 100,000 migrants since October 1, including 9,000 last week.
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The Department of Homeland Security said 646 children traveling alone were detained at the Mexican border on Thursday, up from a daily average of 480 over the previous 30 days.
Fox News’ Caitlin McFall and Louis Casiano, as well as the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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