Biden’s DOJ sues Oklahoma over illegal immigration law

The Biden administration’s Department of Justice sued Oklahoma on Tuesday over the state’s new illegal immigration law.

Oklahoma’s new legislation, House Bill 4156, imposes criminal penalties on illegal aliens, granting local law enforcement agencies the authority to make arrests. Detained illegal immigrants would have 72 hours following their conviction or release from custody to leave the state.

'Bring your fight to Oklahoma. We’re happy to fight you.'

Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) signed the bill into law this month, and it is slated to take effect on July 1. Stitt, along with many other Republicans, has argued that state-level illegal immigration laws are necessary because the federal government has refused to secure the border. The governor argued that the Biden administration is “stand[ing] in the way of states trying to protect their citizens.”

The DOJ threatened to sue the state last week over the bill, claiming it is similar to Texas’ Senate Bill 4, which is currently tied up in the courts.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond argued that HB 4156 is different.

“We don’t pretend to be the federal government. We are the Oklahoma government. States don’t have the right to deport people, and this law does not attempt to deport anyone,” Drummond stated. “If you’re an illegal immigrant in Oklahoma and obeying the law, I don’t have any concern for you. I wish you to have success as you work through the process of legally immigrating.”

Drummond told Fox News Digital that Oklahoma was careful to ensure its law was not similar to the legislation currently being challenged in Texas.

“I fully anticipated that the Biden administration would attempt to intervene and distract the public to its failures,” he remarked. “I would say to the Biden administration, bring your fight to Oklahoma. We’re happy to fight you.”

According to the AG, the state has “genuinely been invaded by Chinese nationals and Mexican cartels, who are in concert or separate and apart from each other, are engaged in illegal activity.”

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the DOJ’s Civil Division, said, “Oklahoma cannot disregard the U.S. Constitution and settled Supreme Court precedent.”

“We have brought this action to ensure that Oklahoma adheres to the Constitution and the framework adopted by Congress for regulation of immigration,” Boynton added.

Earlier this month, the DOJ filed a lawsuit against Iowa to prevent the state’s Senate File 2340 from taking effect. The law allows local law enforcement officials to arrest illegal immigrants who were previously removed from the country, prohibited from entering the country, or have outstanding deportation orders.

The agency’s latest lawsuit against Oklahoma claims that HB 4156 is similar to Iowa’s SF 2340 because it “impermissibly creates a state-specific immigration system that effectively seeks to regulate noncitizens’ entry, reentry, and presence in the United States.”

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