Immigration advocates renew lawsuit against Oklahoma crime of ‘impermissible occupation'
A young woman places a paper on the door to the Governor's Office to oppose House Bill 4156. The papers read, "You chose politics over people. You broke my heart." Hundreds gathered at the Oklahoma State Capitol to oppose the new immigration law during Hispanic Cultural Day on May 15, 2024. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Several Oklahoma civil rights groups on Tuesday filed an amended lawsuit seeking to block the enforcement of a controversial anti-immigration law after they said state officials have been allowed to enforce it.
The latest legal wrangling comes after the U.S. Department of Justice in March dropped its objections to the implementation of House Bill 4156, which created the crime of 'impermissible occupation' for undocumented immigrants in the state.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, the National Immigration Law Center, Padres Unidos de Tulsa and the League of United Latin American Citizens Oklahoma City chapter, Barbara Boe and Christopher Coe filed the amended lawsuit on behalf of undocumented immigrants living in the state.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond and Commissioner of Public Safety Tim Tipton are among those named as defendants.
'We are fighting once more against this harmful law, which the court already enjoined last year as unconstitutional' said Noor Zafar, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, in a statement. 'Every day that HB 4156 is in effect, it puts immigrants in Oklahoma at risk of arrest, detention, and banishment from the state and undermines the federal immigration system that Congress set up. We are using every legal tool available to stop this law from tearing apart communities across Oklahoma.'
First-time violators of the law, signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt in April 2024, face up to a year in jail and a fine up to $500, or both, and the person must leave the state within 72 hours. A second offense is punishable by two years in prison, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.
Several of these groups and the U.S. Department of Justice, which was led by former President Joe Biden's administration, had separately sued last year to stop it from taking effect. The suits, filed in the Western District of Oklahoma, were combined.
A federal judge then put the law on hold ahead of its July 1, 2024, implementation. Opponents argued that federal authorities are responsible for enforcing immigration.
In March, the Department of Justice, led by President Donald Trump, announced that it no longer objected to the law and dismissed the case.
The groups argued Tuesday that the state officials have 'unprecedented power to arrest, detain, and expel noncitizens,' by creating a 'novel system' with immigration crimes completely outside the federal system.
'For far too long, Oklahoma law enforcement was stymied because the federal government had declined to do anything about deporting illegal immigrants found working at illegal marijuana grows,' said Carrie Burkhart, a spokesperson for Drummond, in a statement. 'Enforcing HB4156 ensures the safety and security of Oklahomans, and our office will vigorously defend it.'
A bill proposed this session, House Bill 1362, would have repealed this law, but did not advance from a Senate committee. It would have allowed an individual to be arrested and charged with a new felony punishable by five years in prison if they are apprehended for a violation of Oklahoma's criminal law and are determined to be an undocumented immigrant. But they could agree to be returned to their country of origin by federal immigration enforcement rather than be imprisoned if they have no other felony charges or previous convictions for a violent offense.
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