Texas governor reacts as judge blocks illegal immigration order

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott takes action against Biden’s Justice Department after federal judge blocked executive order allowing soldiers to stop vehicles suspected of transporting illegal immigrants over fears they could spread COVID -19.

Abbott on Tuesday called the temporary order issued by US District Judge Kathleen Cardone of El Paso “temporary and based on limited evidence.”

“We look forward to providing the court with evidence to support the governor’s decree to protect Texans,” he added.

The judge’s order ends implementation of Abbott’s executive order he introduced last week, which allowed state soldiers to stop any vehicle suspected of transporting illegal immigrants.

If the suspicion was confirmed, the soldiers could then redirect the vehicles to their point of origin or impound them.

Abbott had argued his order would help stop the spread of COVID-19, but Biden’s Justice Department sued last week on the grounds that the governor’s order interferes with federal immigration policy.

“The Biden administration knowingly and willfully released COVID-19 positive migrants into communities in Texas, risking the potential exposure and infection of Texas residents,” Abbott said in a statement following the report. judge’s order.

“The governor’s executive order attempts to prevent the Biden administration from spreading COVID-19 in Texas and to protect the health and safety of Texans.”

The judge said in her two-page order that the Justice Department was likely to prevail over her claim that the order signed by Abbott violates the supremacy clause of the Constitution both in conflict with federal law on immigration and regulating federal operations.

Cardone also found that the order “caused irreparable harm to the United States and to those the United States is accused of protecting, endangering the health and safety of non-nationals detained by the federal government, putting endanger the safety of federal law enforcement agencies and their families, and exacerbate the spread of COVID-19. ”

She has scheduled a full hearing for August 13.

It comes as US officials have revealed that the number of illegal migrants crossing the border has peaked in 20 years.

Illegal immigrants were arrested about 210,000 times in July, up from 188,829 in June.

Authorities said they probably recovered 19,000 unaccompanied children in July, surpassing the previous record of 18,877 in March.

June’s total was 15,253, according to David Shahoulian, deputy secretary for border and immigration policy at the Department of Homeland Security, who nominated the Rio Grande Valley to have the highest numbers.

With post wires