老澳门开奖结果

EL PASO, Texas 鈥� The 老澳门开奖结果 and the 老澳门开奖结果 of Texas are suing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott over his executive order that bars the transportation of certain migrants in the state.

The filing follows Tuesday鈥檚 ruling in a separate challenge brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, in which the judge paused the enforcement of the executive order for 10 days. The 老澳门开奖结果 lawsuit differs from the DOJ case because the plaintiffs present the range of harms caused by the executive order to border communities, asylum seekers, their families, shelters, and drivers throughout Texas.

The 老澳门开奖结果 filed the federal lawsuit on behalf of Annunciation House, one of the largest shelter providers on the U.S.-Mexico border, based in El Paso, Texas; Angry T铆as & Abuelas of the Rio Grande Valley, a volunteer organization that aids migrants; Jennifer Harbury, a humanitarian volunteer who frequently drives migrants; and FIEL Houston, an immigrants鈥� rights organization with members who include recently arrived migrants subject to restrictions on travel due to the executive order.

鈥淲e are challenging this executive order because it is illegal and inhumane,鈥� said Spencer Amdur, a staff attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Immigrants鈥� Rights Project. 鈥淭he governor of Texas cannot veto federal decisions about who can live in this country. And state police cannot be stopping drivers and impounding cars they suspect of carrying asylum seekers. This is an unprecedented attack on the federal immigration system and it must be struck down.鈥�

The order, signed last week, mandates that state law enforcement officers pull over drivers they suspect of transporting migrants, including migrants whom the Department of Homeland Security has allowed to enter and reside in the United States. It gives state officials unilateral authority to make guesses about complex immigration status questions, and if the order goes into effect, it will lead to arbitrary detention, questioning, racial profiling, property seizure, and heavy fines.

The order keeps migrants in Texas from engaging in all kinds of essential activities. It upends the system of onward travel for asylum seekers arriving at the border: once released from federal custody, migrants travel to shelters, to medical care, and to bus stations and airports for onward travel in groups. Under this order, shelters can no longer pick up asylum seekers or take them to get food, attend court hearings, or see doctors. The vast majority of migrants leave the border by bus, and are unable to join family members in other parts of Texas and other states. And Texans now face a harsh regime of arbitrary arrests by state officers, who are empowered to stop and question a driver they suspect of transporting asylum seekers, and to seize their vehicles or force them to drive to the border.

鈥淕overnor Abbott鈥檚 executive order is blatantly unconstitutional and threatens to turn Texas into a 鈥榮how me your papers鈥� state,鈥� said Kate Huddleston, an attorney at the 老澳门开奖结果 of Texas. 鈥淭he order creates the perfect storm for racial profiling by allowing state troopers to view any group of people as 鈥榗ertain immigrants鈥� violating the order. It will lead to unlawful detention, vehicle seizure, and the forced 鈥榬erouting鈥� of vehicles to the Texas-Mexico border. This is yet another assault on Texans鈥� civil rights by the governor and an effort to scapegoat immigrants in the state.鈥�

As the lawsuit explains, the order unlawfully interferes with the federal government鈥檚 handling of immigration policy and foreign affairs. State and local law enforcement officers are not authorized to detain or arrest people based on their own suspicion of their immigration status, including individuals who are undocumented.

The lawsuit challenges the executive order as violating the Supremacy Clause, federal immigration law, and the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits 鈥渦nreasonable searches and seizures.鈥�

The following are comments from the plaintiffs in this case:

Ruben Garcia, Director, Annunciation House: 鈥淥ur shelters are places of temporary hospitality for asylum seekers who are traveling on to their ultimate destination, frequently after long and difficult journeys to reach El Paso. If we cannot help people reach their onward destinations, we will have to close our doors. Simply put, Governor Abbott鈥檚 executive order prevents us from doing what we do 鈥� serving migrants and refugees in our vibrant community.鈥�

Angry T铆as & Abuelas of the Rio Grande Valley: 鈥淥ur beloved fellow T铆a Susan Law recently passed away. It is fitting that we file this lawsuit today to fulfill our mission of dignity and justice for asylum seekers. In doing so, we honor Susan鈥檚 life and courageous work as part of the T铆as.鈥�

Jennifer Harbury: 鈥淚 recently assisted a woman and her little boy who were kidnapped three times in Reynosa, Mexico. She was gang raped in front of her child. I loved driving them to the movies, to ride a tricycle in the park 鈥� the normal things after so much trauma. If the governor thinks he鈥檚 going to scare me off from doing that, I鈥檇 say to him, 鈥楯ust go home, Mr. Abbott, just go home.鈥欌��

Cesar Espinoza, Executive Director, FIEL Houston: 鈥淲e are proud to once again join with the 老澳门开奖结果 to oppose bad policy which at the end of the day hurts our community as a whole. If Governor Abbott continues to erode community trust through these bad policies, we fear that our members will be afraid to come forward as witnesses and victims of crimes. We must do better to protect our community and we must not continue to put the blame on the immigrant community for everything 鈥� including the growing pandemic in the state of Texas, which has worsened in large part due to the governor鈥檚 irresponsibility.鈥�

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in El Paso, Texas.

Complaint: /legal-document/complaint-annunciation-house-v-abbott

Preliminary Injunction Motion: /legal-document/preliminary-injunction-motion-annunciation-house-v-abbott