Greg Abbott
Photographer: Alex Wong / Getty Images
Photographer: Alex Wong / Getty Images
The Department of Homeland Security, 12 days before President Joe Biden was sworn in, entered into a ‘binding’ agreement with Texas and agreed to consult with the state for 180 days before changing immigration policy, and the hands of the new government effectively bound.
The January 8 agreement between Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and then-Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Kenneth Cuccinelli is at the center of the first major lawsuit against the Biden government.
On Friday, the state accused the federal government of violating the agreement by planning a 100-day hiatus over deportations without first giving Texas a chance to object.
“Texas has suffered irreparable damage as a result of providing expensive educational, social, welfare, health care and other services to illegal aliens living in Texas because the accused have stopped removing them,” the attorney general said. of Texas, Ken Paxton, said.
U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton in Victoria, Texas, on Friday heard arguments over Paxton’s request for a temporary restraint of the plan while the case continues. Tipton, a nominated Donald Trump, said he would rule soon.
The Justice Department argues that the state wants to swap the federal government’s authority over immigration in its latest agreement with the Trump administration. Later Friday, the U.S. Civil Liberties Union sided with the Biden administration, calling the Texas effort an illegal attempt to block the government’s discretion over the removal of immigrants.
‘Deeply problematic’
“The approval of this agreement would set a deeply problematic precedent,” the ACLU said in its friend-of-court order. “If a retiring DHS official can sign the following administrations policy making authority for six months, why not for four years? Or eight? ”
The rights organization said any confidence in the deal, even temporary, would pave the way for similar last-minute deals between agencies and states – or even parties outside the country – as presidents leave.
“Our Constitution provides that presidential elections are held every four years, and that executive power is transferred shortly thereafter,” the ACLU said. “But according to Texas, a outgoing government never has to give power as long as it finds a willing contractor to hold on to its policy preferences.”
Texas said in its motion for a restraining order that the agreement with the Trump administration is “mutually beneficial” and that it has been reached to promote “cooperation and coordination.” The state argues that it has a unique exposure to immigration issues due to its long border with Mexico, and therefore deserves input on immigration changes.
The Department of Justice calls it inadmissible veto.