U.S. officials sued over the law before it took effect on July 1, arguing that it violated the U.S. Constitution by adopting a state-based immigration system that clashes with the federal system.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond told the court that granting the government’s bid to block the statute would “render the states helpless and passive vassals to a federal government that refuses to enforce its own laws in express and misguided deference to the whims of foreign governments.”
In his ruling on June 28, U.S. District Judge Bernard Jones sided with the Biden administration and entered an injunction as the case proceeds.
That means federal law preempts the new state law, according to the ruling.
If the law were allowed to stand then “each state could give itself ‘independent authority’ to achieve its own immigration policy, undoubtedly ‘diminishing the federal government’s control over enforcement’ and ‘detracting from the integrated scheme of regulation created by Congress,’” the judge also said, quoting from the 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling against an Arizona law that included state-level punishment for illegal immigrants.
Judge Jones noted that both a U.S. district judge and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently ruled against a similar law in Texas that lets state law enforcers arrest illegal immigrants and bring charges against them.
The appeals court in ruling against that law, also pointed to the 2012 ruling, saying the reasoning back then—that the federal Immigration and Nationality Act already barred behavior targeted by the Arizona law—also applied to the Texas law.
“Thus, there is ’strong support' for the conclusion that Congress has legislated so comprehensively in the field of noncitizen entry and reentry that it left no room for supplementary state legislation,” Judge Jones said.
The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment.
“The federal courts have been clear that HB 4156, like similar laws in Texas and Iowa, is unconstitutional. Moreover, it would harm all Oklahomans. We are relieved with this decision to block its implementation and will continue fighting for all immigrant communities that call Oklahoma home,” Nicholas Espiritu, deputy legal director at the National Immigration Law Center, which brought a separate suit against the law, said in a statement.
Mr. Drummond, a Republican, said the ruling was disappointing.
“We intend to appeal today’s decision and defend one of the most powerful tools we have to fight the criminal activity largely being fueled by illegal aliens in Oklahoma,” he said in a statement.
“I will not stop fighting for Oklahoma and our right to protect our borders. The Biden administration’s complete failure to enforce federal immigration laws made House Bill 4156 a necessity,” he said.
Since President Joe Biden entered office in early 2021, illegal border crossings have spiked to record levels.
Some 2.4 million encounters with illegal immigrants were recorded at the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal year 2023 by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
While critics like Oklahoma officials say federal officials aren’t enforcing current laws, administration officials say the system is broken and needs reform by Congress.
“Only Congress, through legislation, can fix what everyone agrees is a broken immigration system that was last updated almost 30 years ago,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters in Arizona in June.
