Fox News host Shannon Bream confronted Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Sunday about a new state law that may work against a precedent in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Abbott has been cracking down on border security as his state is flooded with illegal migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. In the 2023 fiscal year, which ended in September, U.S. Border Patrol had 3.2 million encounters, according to agency data. As Abbott attempts to deter migrants from his state’s border using razor wire and circular saw floating barriers, the U.S. government has tried to stop his efforts claiming that he is impeding on federal law.
Last month, Abbott signed a new law that allows state and local law enforcement to arrest migrants who illegally cross the border. The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Texas and Abbott on Wednesday in an attempt to block the new statute, claiming it violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Supremacy Clause gives federal law precedence over state law.
Bream asked Abbott about the law on Fox News Sunday, mentioning a Supreme Court case from 2012, Arizona v. United States, in which the Court rejected key parts of an Arizona immigration law that sought to deter illegal crossings. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion at the time: “Arizona may have understandable frustrations with the problems caused by illegal immigration while that process continues, but the State may not pursue policies that undermine federal law.” Arizona v. United States was cited in the DOJ’s lawsuit.
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Bream asked Abbott, “What’s your argument for overturning that precedent with this law?”
The governor replied: “This law was crafted in a way to ensure that it was gonna be constitutional. First, it was drafted in a way that does not conflict with federal law. The Arizona law did conflict with federal law. The state of Texas law does not conflict with federal law and hence that’s one reason why we will avoid the preemption allegation made by the federal government.”
He also accused the federal government of not supporting immigration laws passed by Congress and said the new Texas law “simply enforces the laws passed by Congress.”
“Shannon, the third reason why the Texas case is different than the Arizona case is we are relying on preemption ourselves under Article 4, Section 4 and Article 1, Section 10 of the United States Constitution that authorizes Texas to do this,” Abbott said.
Bream then pushed back, “You talk about that Texas is not taking over what the feds would be doing but they say essentially you are. If you are going to arrest people in Texas for being here illegally then what’s their purview when deciding who you deport and how to handle immigration and the border. They say there is a direct crossover for what Texas is doing.”
Abbott responded: “They rely upon what’s called field preemption and what that means is the laws passed by Congress preempt the field or the totality of the ability for states to do something different, however, that field preemption that the federal government is relying upon presumes that the federal government would be enforcing the law passed by Congress.”
He argued that since the federal government is not enforcing these laws and are actually “acting contrary,” to them, “that creates the opening for Texas to be able to enact a law that simply enforces the very same laws passed by the United States Congress.”
Newsweek reached out to Abbott’s office via email for comment.
Republicans in Congress have been pushing for tougher immigration laws to curb the surge of illegal migrants coming into the U.S. and blaming President Joe Biden for what they call a crisis at the southern border.
Meanwhile, Biden has admitted that fixing America’s immigration system is “a difficult challenge” and put the blame back on the Republicans for not working with him to solve it.
He said in Washington on Friday, “On may first day in office…I sent Congress a comprehensive piece of legislation that would completely overhaul what has been a broken immigration system for a long time…but congressional Republicans have refused to consider my comprehensive plan.
“And they rejected my recent request for an additional $3.5 billion to secure the border and funds for 2,000 new asylum personnel, another — asylum officers and personnel — and 100 new immigration judges so people don’t have to wait years to get their claims adjudicated, which they have a right to make a claim legally.”
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.