Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told Newsmax on Thursday his state has a "pretty simple argument" in its case to arrest and remove migrants who illegally cross the border.
States have a right to protect their citizens from harm.
Paxton joined "The National Report" to outline the next steps after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday temporarily blocked a federal judge's ruling that would have allowed Texas' measure, known as SB 4, to go into effect. SB 4 gives Texas broad powers to arrest, prosecute, and remove migrants who illegally cross the border from Mexico.
The Justice Department filed a petition to the Supreme Court on Monday, and Justice Samuel Alito ordered the temporary block, which is set to expire March 13.
"So we'll be back at the trial court level with the actual merits of the case, making the argument — I think it's a pretty simple argument, that the federal government is not going to enforce federal law, and not just not enforce it, but actually invite the cartels to bring as many people here as possible — that states have a right to protect their citizens from the harm that that creates," Paxton said Thursday.
"Which we know there's a lot of great harm that occurs. Not just financial, but also we have issues with crime and potential terrorism and drugs and kids dying from fentanyl."
SB 4 would make it a state crime to enter Texas illegally, with prison sentences up to 20 years for illegal migrants who refuse to leave the country.
"And in my opinion, there's no way that any state, including Texas, would have joined the union if the deal was, Hey, the federal government is going to pass a law that says they're going to protect you, but if they don't enforce it, sorry, you can't protect yourself," Paxton said. "There's no way that any state would have joined under that scenario."
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Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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