OKLAHOMA CITY – A recent communication by the Trump administration’s U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) supports the contention of state officials that tough immigration reform law is needed in the U.S.
Last year the Oklahoma Legislature passed House Bill 4156, an immigration reform measure. The bill was authored by former House Speaker Charles McCall (R-Atoka) and by then-Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat (R-Oklahoma City).
The measure stated that the Legislature “finds and declares that a crisis exists in Oklahoma. Throughout the state, law enforcement comes into daily and increasingly frequent contact with foreign nationals who entered the country illegally or who remain here illegally.
“…Often these persons are involved with organized crime such as drug cartels, they have no regard for Oklahoma’s laws or public safety, and they produce or are involved with fentanyl distribution, sex trafficking, and labor trafficking.”
The “crisis of unauthorized entry and presence is endangering Oklahomans; devastating rural, urban, and suburban communities; and is severely straining even the most diligent and well-resourced state and local governmental entities, civil and criminal.”
HB 4156 decreed that any alien who “enters and remains” in Oklahoma “without having first obtained legal authorization to enter the U.S.” commits “an impermissible occupation.”
Conviction of a first offense would be a misdemeanor punishable by incarceration in the county jail for up to one year and/or a fine of up to $500. “In addition, the person shall be required to leave the state within 72 hours” after his/her conviction or release from custody, “whichever comes later.”
A second offense would be a felony leading to two years in prison and/or a fine of up to $1,000 – and mandatory exit from Oklahoma within 72 hours of conviction or discharge from prison.
The Biden administration’s Justice Department filed suit on May 21, 2024, against the State of Oklahoma, Gov. Kevin Stitt, Attorney General Gentner Drummond, the Department of Public Safety and Public Safety Commissioner Tim Tipton.
“The United States must speak with one voice in immigration matters,” the Justice Department asserted. The Supreme Court of the United States “has long held that the ‘authority to control immigration – to admit or exclude aliens – is vested solely in the Federal Government.’” HB 4156 “is preempted by federal law and violates the U.S. Constitution,” Brian M.
Boynton of the Justice Department wrote in a May 15, 2024, letter to Stitt and Drummond. Oklahoma’s law was similar to a statute enacted in Texas, Boynton said.
“The Government of the United States has broad, undoubted power over the subject of immigration and the status of” noncitizens, Boynton wrote. “In recognizing that well-settled power,” SCOTUS “has explained that ‘immigration policy can affect trade, investment, tourism, and diplomatic relations for the entire Nation, as well as the perceptions and expectations of [noncitizens] in this country who seek the full protection of its laws.’” SCOTUS has declared it is “fundamental that foreign countries concerned about the status, safety, and security of their nationals in the United States must be able to confer and communicate on this subject with one national sovereign, not the 50 separate States,” Boynton noted.
HB 4156 “also conflicts with various provisions” of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), he wrote. “For example, it interferes with the federal government’s ability to enforce the entry and reentry provisions of the INA, and it effectively seeks to regulate noncitizens’ unlawful presence in the United States.”
In addition, Boynton claimed HB 4156 “improperly regulates the international movement of persons in violation of the Foreign Commerce Clause and undermines the United States’ foreign relations.”
Western Oklahoma U.S. District Judge Bernard M. Jones issued a preliminary injunction June 28, 2024, prohibiting the State of Oklahoma from enforcing the new law – three days before it was scheduled to go into effect.
Drummond appealed that decision to the Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Denver in July.
A Jan. 23, 2025, letter from the Justice Department to the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit cites a proclamation by President Trump that “the current situation at the southern border qualifies as an invasion under Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution of the United States.”
As a result, the DOJ indicated it is assessing how the proclamation affects the case surrounding HB 4156.
“The nation’s porous border under the Biden administration posed a direct threat to public safety in Oklahoma, so we acted to protect our people,” Drummond said. “The recent letter from the Justice Department makes clear that our position is correct, and I am encouraged that soon we will be able to enforce HB 4156. This law is critical in our efforts to stamp out the pestilence of illegal marijuana grows and their associated criminal activities.”