Palmetto State News

Attorney General Alan Wilson, along with a coalition of 22 states, has voiced their support for a Texas state law that criminalizes illegal immigration and empowers state officials to enforce it. Wilson stated, “Joe Biden has created a border crisis of historic proportions… Texas’s state law banning illegal immigration is absolutely Constitutional, and I’m glad to lead a coalition to defend it.”

The amicus brief filed by the states in support of Texas’s law emphasizes the states' obligation to address the public crisis of illegal immigration and protect their citizens' safety. It argues for the states' sovereign prerogative to enact legislation under their police powers and ensure that their validly enacted state laws are not improperly deemed unconstitutional.

Texas’s state law, SB4, designates illegal immigration as a state crime and enables state magistrates and judges to deport individuals who have entered the country illegally back to their original nation. The legality of the law has been challenged, leading to a lawsuit from the U.S. government and private plaintiffs. Currently, a U.S. District Court has halted the law, with the case now pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Attorney General Wilson, alongside Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, spearheaded the amicus brief, with the support of 20 other states including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

The coalition's stance reflects a growing concern among several states regarding the impact of illegal immigration and their commitment to upholding state laws in the face of legal challenges.