Attorney General Merrick Garland is threatening to sue Texas after Governor Greg Abbott signed an executive order banning the transport of illegal aliens, including thousands who are carrying Wuhan coronavirus, across the state.
"I urge you to immediately rescind Executive Order GA 37, entitled Relating to the transportation of migrants during the COVID-19 disaster. The Order purports to mandate that "[n]o person, other than a federal, state, or local law-enforcement official, shall promise ground transportation to a group of migrants who have been detained by [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] for crossing the border illegally or who would have been subject to expulsion under the Title 42 order,'" Garland wrote in a letter to Abbott. "As explained below, the Order is dangerous and unlawful. The Order would jeopardize the health and safety of noncitizen in federal government's custody."
"The Order is contrary to federal law and cannot be enforced. Accordingly, consistent with its authorities under federal law, the United States will continue its noncitizen transportation operations unabated," he continued. "I urge you to immediately rescind the Order. If you do not do so,I am providing consistent notice with Section 1-10.100 of the Justice Department's Justice Manual that the United States intends to pursue all appropriate legal remedies to ensure that Texas does not interfere with the functions of the federal government."
The letter comes as the federal government continues to release thousands of illegal aliens into the country. Significant numbers of them are contagious with Wuhan coronavirus.
"The La Joya Police Department issued a public health announcement after an officer approached an undocumented migrant family at Whataburger who told him Border Patrol released them because they had COVID-19," CBS News Dallas-Ft. Worth reports. "On July 26 the police department of the small town along the Rio Grande and Mexican border shared details of the incident. They said a concerned citizen at the restaurant waved down the officer. The citizen told him about the family 'coughing and sneezing without covering their mouths and not wearing face masks.'"
**NEW**: After an incident at a Whataburger, police in La Joya, TX say they’ve learned illegal immigrants who test positive for COVID-19 are being released from federal custody to a local Catholic charity in the RGV which then places them in local hotels without notice. @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/cOx4yR5Wiw
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) July 27, 2021
Abbott is firing back and will not rescind the order.
"It is clear that the Biden Administration fundamentally misunderstands what is truly happening at the Texas-Mexico border. The current crisis at our southern border, including the overcrowding of immigration facilities and the devastating spread of COVID-19 that the influx of non-citizens is causing, is entirely the creation of the Biden Administration and its failed immigration policies," Abbott released in a statement. "By choosing not to enforce immigration laws, removing sound policies like the Remain in Mexico program, and failing to make the most robust use of Title 42 authorities, this Administration has directly caused the unprecedented crisis Texas is facing. And it is increasingly a matter of grave public-health concern as unlawful migrants enter from countries with lower vaccination rates than the United States."
"It would be of some solace if the federal government were conducting appropriate COVID-19 testing and other mitigation strategies, but to the contrary, we hear too many reports of the federal government recklessly failing to do so and instead admitting into the United States — and Texas — migrants from over 150 countries, many of whom are testing positive for COVID-19," he continued. "In short, the Biden Administration is jeopardizing the health and safety of Texans on a daily basis by refusing to follow the law. And it’s not just Texans; these irresponsible policies and actions by the Biden Administration are endangering the lives of many Americans as well as the unlawful immigrants themselves. I will take every available step consistent with the law to fulfill my duty to protect the health and safety of all Texans."