Feds sue to prevent enforcement of Oklahoma immigration law

Papers opposing House Bill 4156 are posted on the door to Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat's office at the Oklahoma State Capitol on May 15. Treat, R-Oklahoma City, and House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, wrote the immigration bill to create a criminal offense of impermissible occupation. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)

OKLAHOMA CITY – The federal government on Tuesday sued the state seeking to invalidate a recently passed controversial immigration law.

The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District in Oklahoma City against the state, Gov. Kevin Stitt, Attorney General Gentner Drummond, the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, and its Commissioner Tim Tipton.

The suit seeks a declaration that House Bill 4156 violates the Supremacy Clause and Foreign Commerce Clause, a ban on enforcement and costs.

House Bill 4156, by House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, and Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, is set to become effective July 1.

Signed last month by Stitt, the measure creates a new crime called “impermissible occupation” for willfully entering the state without legal authorization to be in the United States.

The first offense is a misdemeanor punishable by one year in county jail and a fine of up to $500 or both. The person would be required to leave the state within 72 hours.

A second offense is a felony with up to two years in prison, a fine of up to $1,000 or both.

The measure “impermissibly creates a state-specific immigration system that effectively seeks to regulate noncitizens’ entry, reentry, and presence in the United States,” according to the measure.

The U.S. Constitution gives the federal government the task of regulating immigration, the lawsuit said.

Congress has laid out a system for immigration, the lawsuit said.

“HB 4156 intrudes on that scheme, frustrates the United States’ immigration operations, and interferes with U.S. foreign relations,” the lawsuit said. “It is preempted by federal law and thus violates the Supremacy Law of the United States Constitution.”

Drummond’s office on Tuesday referred to earlier comments he made, vowing to defend the law and blaming President Joe Biden’s administration.

“We are grateful to the Department of Justice and feel the filing of this complaint confirms our position that this law is unconstitutional and would be a violation of the rights of men, women, and children throughout our entire state,” said Sen. Michael Brooks, D-Oklahoma City, chairman of the Oklahoma Legislative Latino Caucus. “We fully expect the U.S. Attorney’s office to seek injunctive relief, which would prevent this law from going into effect July 1.”

Supporters said the law was necessary due to the failure of the Biden administration to secure the border.

The U.S. Department of Justice recently notified the state that should the law be enforced, it would sue.

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