A legal battle over immigration enforcement in Oklahoma is brewing after federal officials warned the state not to enforce a sweeping new law. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond says he’s ready to defend the measure in court.
The U.S. Department of Justice is warning Oklahoma officials: enforce the state’s new sweeping immigration law, and you’ll be sued for overstepping your authority.
House Bill 4156, signed by Governor Kevin Stitt late last month, was drafted with help from Drummond. It criminalizes anyone in the state without legal immigration status.
In a May 15 letter to Stitt and Drummond, federal officials say the U.S. Supreme Court's 2012 decision in Arizona v. The United States established the federal government’s "broad, undoubted power" over the subject of immigration.
“HB 4156 seeks to create a separate state immigration scheme by imposing state criminal penalties for violating the federal prohibitions on unlawful entry and reentry,” the letter reads. “HB 4156 therefore intrudes into a field that is occupied by the federal government.”
Their letter also points out a similar Texas law is already tied up in federal courts.
In a May 17 rebuttal letter, Drummond wrote federal authority over immigration is broad, but not exclusive, and Oklahoma’s law addresses immigration issues within its borders as a sovereign state.
“Oklahoma is exercising its concurrent and complementary power as a sovereign state to address an ongoing public crisis within its borders through appropriate legislation,” Drummond’s letter reads. “Put more bluntly, Oklahoma is cleaning up the Biden Administration's mess through entirely legal means in its own backyard.”
Stitt responded to the threat of lawsuits late Monday.
“The Biden administration refuses to do its job to secure our borders,” Stitt said in a written statement. “Not only that, but they stand in the way of states trying to protect their citizens. Had the Biden administration set aside politics and done their job, HB 4156 wouldn’t have been necessary. As governor, I will continue to do what is necessary to protect all four million Oklahomans.”
