Lankford Calls Out DOJ for Suing Oklahoma Over State Law Addressing Border Security Crisis

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) sent a letter to US Attorney General Merrick Garland calling out the Department of Justice for suing the State of Oklahoma over the immigration law H.B. 4156, which empowers law enforcement to arrest individuals illegally present in the United States. Lankford serves as lead Republican on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Government Operations and Border Management. 

Lankford spoke on the Senate floor about the ongoing, dangerous situation posed by what are known as “Special Interest Aliens” as eight ISIS-K members were picked up by law enforcement after they crossed the southern border. He has continued to push back on President Biden for his sudden attempt to change the narrative on the border just six months before an election. Lankford also introduced the Security and Oversight of International Landholdings (SOIL) Act to provide oversight and transparency of purchases of US agricultural land that threaten national security.

“DOJ’s efforts to block my state’s implementation of this measure raises serious questions about the Biden Administration’s recent ‘focus’ on border security. It is hypocritical for the Biden Administration to refuse to act to secure the southern border while trying to block Oklahoma from doing its part to protect itself from this Administration’s open border policies…The ongoing border crisis has empowered cartels and transnational criminal organizations both at the border and in the interior. In my home state of Oklahoma, many Chinese migrants who have crossed the border have ended up working on illegal marijuana farms run by Chinese transnational criminal organizations. In Oklahoma and across the country, Americans are dying from fentanyl that has been trafficked across the border by the cartels that have been empowered under this Administration’s open border policies,” Lankford wrote in the letter.

View the letter here or below. 

Dear Attorney General Garland:

I write today to express my concerns with the Department of Justice’s recent litigation against the State of Oklahoma for its implementation of H.B. 4156, which is set to go into effect on July 1, 2024. DOJ’s efforts to block my state’s implementation of this measure raises serious questions about the Biden Administration’s recent “focus” on border security. It is hypocritical for the Biden Administration to refuse to act to secure the southern border while trying to block Oklahoma from doing its part to protect itself from this Administration’s open border policies.

Since President Biden took office, nearly 8 million migrants have crossed the southern border illegally – more illegal crossings than under the Obama and Trump Administrations combined. This astronomical level of illegal immigration has strained State and local government services across the nation, creating issues for school systems, homelessness shelters, and related services.

The ongoing border crisis has empowered cartels and transnational criminal organizations both at the border and in the interior. In my home state of Oklahoma, many Chinese migrants who have crossed the border have ended up working on illegal marijuana farms run by Chinese transnational criminal organizations. In Oklahoma and across the country, Americans are dying from fentanyl that has been trafficked across the border by the cartels that have been empowered under this Administration’s open border policies.

According to US Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens, over 52,000 special interest migrants (SIMs) crossed the border already this fiscal year. SIMs are illegal aliens who potentially pose a national security risk to the United States. Many of these SIMs are released into the country with no knowledge of who they are or why they are here. Rather than addressing the real national security concerns created our open southern border, DOJ is instead focused on handcuffing Oklahoma’s ability to address the border crisis.

While the Biden Administration has sought to use the recent bipartisan border bill as a partisan cudgel against Republicans, the people of my home state have been asking for leadership on the border. Oklahoma passed H.B. 4156 because of the Federal government’s lack of leadership on securing the border. Your efforts to block Oklahoma’s implementation of this law shows that the Biden Administration continues to be unserious in its efforts to address our open southern border.

The people in my home state, and Americans across the country, are ready for this Administration to take the ongoing crisis at the border seriously. The Biden Administration has turned every state into a border state. It’s time to stop this crisis and enforce the law.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to receiving your response by not later than COB, July 13, 2024.

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