A federal judge has blocked a Texas order that targeted migrants after the Justice Department filed suit against the state to keep state troopers from targeting and stopping vehicles that transport migrants.
Governor Gregg Abbott issued the executive order last Wednesday on the grounds that stopping vehicles that were transporting migrants would help slow the spread of COVID-19. Along with the increase in border crossings, the state deemed the transport of migrants, many of whom are presumed likely unvaccinated, to be a threat to public health. Under the order, state troopers would have the authority to reroute vehicles back to their point of origin or impound the vehicle.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone of El Paso issued the temporary order on Tuesday and wrote that the order would "exacerbate the spread of COVID-19."
Cardone’s ruling comes after the Justice Department filed suit against the state arguing that the Governor's order would have “tremendous consequences” if allowed to stand. The DOJ’s suit also states that Abbott’s order causes injury “to individuals whom the United States is charged to protect, jeopardizing the health and safety of noncitizens in federal custody, risking the safety of federal law enforcement personnel and their families, and exacerbating the spread of COVID-19 in our communities.”
The DOJ also asserts its power to regulate and enforce immigration law. “In our constitutional system, a State has no right to regulate the federal government’s operations,” The suit read. “This restriction on the transportation of noncitizens would severely disrupt federal immigration operations.”
According to authorities, the order was issued after a migrant family who had tested positive for the virus was found at a fast-food restaurant when they were supposed to be in quarantine at a hotel. The family was not wearing masks and was being aided by a local Catholic Charities organization according to authorities.
Sister Normal Pimentel, the executive director for the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, shared that the incident was misconstrued and that not all family members had left quarantine.
“What we’re seeing today, this misinformation, that it’s everybody, families are all over, exposing everybody to COVID, it’s false. It’s not true,” shared Pimentel in a Facebook Live interview. Pimentel later described the incident as an “isolated” event that was being used to push a misleading narrative.
Democratic opposition has criticized Abbott’s handling of the pandemic over the past couple of months and accused him of deflecting the blame for rising COVID-19 numbers onto migrants. They point to this latest order as another attempt by the two-term Governor who is up for reelection to smear migrants in a negative light. As cases and hospitalizations rise in Texas, Democratic lawmakers point to Abbott’s intentional neglect to reinstate mask mandates and other restrictions to mitigate the spread of the virus.
Democratic state Rep. Rafael Anchia shared of Abbott’s handling of the migration surge, "Blaming the current coronavirus surge on immigrants in his executive order, is a flagrant attempt to absolve his ineffective leadership that ultimately led to the unnecessary loss of life of our fellow Texans."
Democratic Judge Richard Cortez, the top elected official of the Rio Grande Valley’s largest county, Hidalgo County, shares this sentiment, pointing to recent stats that roughly 16% of migrants have tested positive for the virus, a rate that is in line with the state’s overall 17% positivity rate.
Brownsville Bishop Daniel E. Flores also called the executive order a discriminatory reach by the state. “How can the Governor’s order identify them as ‘illegal’ and how does looking for them not constitute racial profiling of persons legally in the US?” Flores shared on Twitter soon after the order was announced.
Following the order, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a letter to Abbott which pushed back on the Governor’s action, describing it as both “dangerous and unlawful.”
Abbot wrote a response letter to Garland where he contends, “The authority that you assert to protect noncitizens directly conflicts with my authority, and duty, to protect citizens of Texas and the United States. The constitutions and laws of the United States and of Texas empower me, as Governor, to protect the health and safety of Texans.”
While the temporary restraining order is a win for the Biden administration, Judge Cardone is set to have another hearing next week to begin assessing whether or not the Governor’s move was constitutional.
