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OKLAHOMA CITY Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond vowed to defend a law making illegal immigration a state-level crime after the U.S. Department of Justice threatened to sue Oklahoma if the law is enforced.

In late April, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed House Bill 4156 into law, making illegal immigration a state level crime.

The bill will go into effect July 1.

On May 15, the Department of Justice sent a letter addressed to Stitt and Drummond, saying the United States will sue unless Oklahoma agrees to not enforce the law.

In the letter, the Department of Justice claimed the bill intrudes into a field that the federal government has authority over, citing the Arizona V. U.S. court case.

In recognizing that well-settled power, the Supreme Court has explained that immigration policy can affect trade, investment, tourism, and diplomatic relations for the entire Nation, as well as the perceptions and expectations of [noncitizens] in this country who seek the full protection of its laws. Id. at 395. It is fundamental that foreign countries concerned about the status, safety, and security of their nationals in the United States must be able to confer and communicate on this subject with one national sovereign, not the 50 separate States. Id, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton wrote in the letter.

To that end, Congress has established a comprehensive scheme governing noncitizens entry and reentry into the United States, including penalties for unlawful entry and reentry, see 8 U.S.C. 1325, 1326. HB 4156, however, seeks to create a separate state immigration scheme by imposing state criminal penalties for violating the federal prohibitions on unlawful entry and reentry. HB 4156 therefore intrudes into a field that is occupied by the federal government and is preempted, Boynton continued.

The Department of Justice also claimed the bill interferes with parts of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

For example, it interferes with the federal governments ability to enforce the entry and reentry provisions of the INA, and it effectively seeks to regulate noncitizens unlawful presence in the United States. HB 4156 likewise improperly regulates the international movement of persons in violation of the Foreign Commerce Clause and undermines the United States foreign relations, Boynton said.

However, Drummond said because the federal government is failing to handle illegal immigration, Oklahoma had no choice but the pursue the law.

Acquiescence to this intolerable situation is not in my states DNA; neither is surrender, Drummond wrote. As such, HB 4156 represents a meaningful, common-sense, and legally permissible step toward addressing and correcting that which the Biden Administration has willfully refused to enforce the last 3.5 years.

Drummond also said the Department of Justices argument is dubious at best and the federal governments broad authority overall immigration does not mean they have exclusive power on the subject.

In any event, HB 4156 does not create a separate immigration system for Oklahoma. This is not even close. Rather, Oklahoma is exercising its concurrent and complementary power as a sovereign state to address an ongoing public crisis within its borders through appropriate legislation. Put more bluntly, Oklahoma is cleaning up the Biden Administration's mess through entirely legal means in its own backyardand will resolutely continue to do so by supplementing federal prohibitions with robust state penalties. In short, Oklahoma has moved to protect its sovereigntynot in contradiction of federal law, but in complete compliance with it. The laws under challenge here do not extend or revise federal immigration restrictions, but merely enforce those restrictions more effectively. Arizona, 567 U.S. at 437 (Scalia, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part), Drummond wrote.

Drummond also emphasized that racial profiling is not a component of enforcing HB 4156.

I emphasize that racial profiling of any sort is not only unacceptable under any circumstances, but also illegal in Oklahoma. To detain someone who looks, sounds, or acts foreign is itself un-American and will never be tolerated by this office, Drummond wrote.

Read more from the original source:
Oklahoma Attorney General responds after DOJ threatens to sue Oklahoma over illegal immigration law - KOKI FOX 23 TULSA