(RightWing.org) – The Biden administration is trying to block Texas from using state and local law enforcement to detain and deport illegal immigrants, but it could be trying to stop a changing tide. A Tennessee senator is introducing a bill that would end the federal government’s sole authority over immigration and give states the power to expel those who have no right to be in the US. The bill also aims to crack down on so-called “sanctuary” jurisdictions.
Last December, Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) signed SB4, a law that gave state law enforcement officials the power to arrest and deport migrants who entered the state illegally from Mexico. The Biden administration immediately began court proceedings to stop the law’s enforcement. A federal court issued a temporary injunction, and on March 4, the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to stop Texas from enforcing it. The administration is arguing that immigration is a federal responsibility and states have no authority to detain or deport illegal migrants.
However, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is trying to change that. She’s just introduced the Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal (CLEAR) Act, which would break the federal government’s monopoly on immigration enforcement. Her bill would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow states to do what Texas is planning, allowing state and local cops to arrest illegal immigrants and transfer them to federal custody centers.
Blackburn’s bill would also deal with the problem of “sanctuary” jurisdictions, which refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. If passed, her bill would restrict those jurisdictions’ access to federal funds.
Blackburn says the nation needs her proposed law because of the threat from foreign criminals. She cited the murder of Georgia student Laken Riley by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, who entered Texas illegally in 2022. Federal agents paroled the suspect into the US to await an asylum hearing.
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