Biden administration tells Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to rescind border order

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The Biden administration has threatened to legally challenge Governor Greg Abbott’s order that state soldiers overtake drivers transporting migrants who pose a risk of spreading COVID-19, calling it “dangerous and unlawful”.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland wrote to Abbott Thursday in a letter that the governor’s ordinance “violates federal law in many ways and Texas cannot lawfully enforce the ordinance against federal officials or private parties working with the United States.”

Garland said the Justice Department “intends to take all appropriate legal remedies to ensure Texas does not interfere with the functions of the federal government” if Abbott does not overturn the order.

On Wednesday, Abbott issued the order allowing soldiers from the Texas Department of Public Safety to reroute civilian vehicles back to their starting point or port of entry, or to confiscate the vehicles if police suspect the driver is carrying migrants infected with the virus.

Abbott said in a statement that its order “will reduce the risk of COVID-19 exposure in our communities,” although the governor will not allow local government officials to issue mask mandates even if coronavirus infections rise across the state.

Merrick’s legal threat to Abbott is the latest in an immigration battle between the Biden administration and Texas.

Earlier this summer, Abbott said the state would build a wall on the Texas-Mexico border. He has also threatened to revoke state licenses to Texas facilities hired by the federal government to host migrant children. The Biden administration has threatened legal action against Texas if Abbott carries out the same plan.

Abbott replied to Garland’s letter, saying it was the Biden government’s fault for the increase in positive COVID-19 cases among migrants and that it “fundamentally misunderstands what is really happening on the Texas-Mexico border”.

“In short, the Biden government is putting the health and safety of Texans at risk every day by refusing to obey the law,” Abbott said in a statement. “And it’s not just Texans; These irresponsible policies and actions of the Biden government endanger the lives of many Americans as well as the illegal immigrants themselves. I will take every step available, in accordance with the law, to my duty to protect the health and safety of all Texans. “

Currently, the Biden government is immediately rejecting many migrants under Title 42, which allows agents to return migrants to Mexico due to the risk of spreading COVID-19. This practice has been around since the Trump administration.

Proponents say Abbott’s recent order would not only disrupt shelters that have taken in migrants released by border guards, but would also invite soldiers to racially profile people. They also said this would affect volunteers driving migrants to bus stops or airports.

Many of the migrants have tried to enter the country via the Rio Grande Valley. Many of them have applied for asylum and immigration officials have released some migrants pending the outcome of their asylum procedures.

Some migrants stay in shelters until friends or relatives send them money for a bus ride or plane ticket to their US destination.

Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, an immigration attorney in Austin, said Wednesday the order is open to legal challenge because “how would DPS do this job without racial profiling?”

“If followed to the letter, it will violate someone’s rights,” she said.

Dr. Michele Heisler, the medical director of Doctors for Human Rights, said Thursday that Abbott’s order could put migrants at greater risk of being exposed to the virus because if they are not allowed to bond with their families across the country, they could in Detention centers are held where they may not be able to socialize.

“Governor Abbott’s order yesterday was motivated by xenophobia and not supported by any science,” she said. “This executive order, which instructs the state police to stop, rerout – and even confiscate vehicles in which migrants are traveling – will not reduce COVID-19 exposure in the state.”

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