by Katelynn Richardson
The Biden-Harris administration has aggressively litigated red states to advance its agenda, which legal experts say could violate states’ rights.
States like Texas that have taken steps to curb the influx of illegal immigrants are reaching out record levels under the Biden administration – are currently facing lawsuits from the federal government. Similarly, states that have passed laws that contradict the Biden administration’s positions on issues such as abortion and gender equality have faced lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of those laws.
The number of lawsuits filed by the Biden administration is “unprecedented,” Hans von Spakovsky, senior staff attorney at the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“And all of them are examples of the Department of Justice abusing its law enforcement powers and violating federalism by targeting states,” he said.
MILKING defendant Virginia finds itself “too close” to the election on Friday following an initiative to remove non-citizens from voting. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin called it a “desperate attempt to attack the legitimacy” of state elections.
“With less than 30 days until the election, the Biden-Harris Department of Justice is filing an unprecedented lawsuit against me and the Commonwealth of Virginia for adequately enforcing a 2006 law signed by Democrat Tim Kaine that requires Virginia to remove non-British citizens from its electoral rolls,” rolls ” – a process that begins with a person declaring to be a non-citizen and then registering to vote,” Youngkin said in a statement statement.
The administration also excelled Alabama in connection with an attempt to remove foreigners from the voter rolls. Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen, who in August announced that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had issued noncitizen identification numbers to 3,251 registered voters, noted that the federal government had repeatedly denied requests for a list of noncitizens residing in the state.
When the state decided to deal with the issue itself, a lawsuit was immediately filed against it. Removing a voter from a state’s registration roll within 90 days of an election is a violation of federal Department of Justice law he argued.
The Biden-Harris Justice Department launched an unprecedented attack on American voters.
Just days before the election, they sued the states of Alabama and Virginia for leaving illegal aliens on the voter rolls.
Every American should be outraged. pic.twitter.com/kuzX1RNcDd
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) October 12, 2024
Other election-related disputes include Department of Justice lawsuits v Arizona in July 2022 on proof of citizen voting law AND Georgia in June 2021 on the Election Integrity Act.
Supreme Court allowed Arizona will partially enforce its law in August after the Republican National Committee (RNC) intervened in a separate lawsuit brought by a left-wing activist groups. Although the Supreme Court rejected a ban on casting ballots for president without proof of citizenship, the majority allowed Arizona to reject state voter registration forms that do not have one.
In Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger suggested The Department of Justice could have cooperated with activists on this matter by requesting documents related to the Department’s decision.
“Given that it is a crime under federal law for an alien to register or vote, the Department of Justice should be cheering on states that are trying to do something about this problem and helping states defend lawsuits brought against them, rather than suing states,” von Spakovsky told DCNF , noting that the same applies to the immigration space. “The federal government needs the help and assistance of state governments and state law enforcement agencies to enforce our immigration laws and stop the unlawful influx of illegal aliens entering the country.”
Biden’s Justice Department has also taken aggressive action against states trying to crack down on illegal content immigration.
This defendant in January in Texas over a state law that authorizes local authorities to arrest undocumented migrants, potentially triggering a lawsuit Iowa AND Oklahoma in May on similar legislation.
In 2012, the Supreme Court held that the Arizona law making it a crime to be in that state without a permit has been abolished by federal law.
“There was very little chance that Oklahoma or Texas would succeed without overturning Arizona v. U.S., and that may be their goal, but it is not inappropriate for the federal government to enforce what the Supreme Court found to be unconstitutional laws that infringed on the federal government’s authority (though I strongly disagree with the opinion in Arizona v. United States,” Competitive Enterprise Institute attorney Devin Watkins told DCNF. “The Supreme Court declined to block the Texas emergency law, suggesting that it is at least possible that the Supreme Court could overturn Arizona v. U.S. on appeal.”
Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador accused the Biden administration ignored states’ rights when the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court challenging Idaho’s abortion ban.
Administration defendant shortly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, alleging that Idaho’s Pro-Life Act prevented doctors from performing emergency abortions because they believed it was required by federal law. In June, the Supreme Court reinstated restrictions on the law, delivery the case back to the lower court without deciding whether the statute conflicts with federal law.
Currently, the Department of Justice does fighting Tennessee ban on minors’ gender reassignment procedures in Supreme Court.
South Texas College of Law in Houston professor Josh Blackman told DCNF that it appears Biden’s Justice Department is “trying to file as many lawsuits as possible before the election.”
“If Trump wins, it will be difficult [the] Department of Justice on the conclusion of ongoing cases,” Blackman said. “It is also possible that private groups could intervene to keep things alive.”
Watkins disagreed that the Biden administration has filed more lawsuits than usual, noting that lawsuits over voting issues are “actually quite common because of the federal election issues involved.”
“Overall, I don’t think the federal government will be filing lawsuits against states more often this term than in previous ones,” he said. “Some of these lawsuits may, if successful, violate state laws, and in many cases the federal government should lose, but such litigation is not unusual.”
During the Trump administration, the government defendant California on cap and trade agreement with Quebec. This too defendant California, New Jersey, and King County, Washington regarding sanctuary city policies.
“The Trump administration has taken other actions to pressure states to change their regulations, such as DHS suspending New York’s access to the Global Entry program or threatening federal payments to local jurisdictions,” Watkins added.
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Katelynn Richardson is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.
