Federal Judge Blocks Oklahoma Law That Bars Illegal Immigrants

A law enabling Oklahoma officials to order illegal immigrants to leave the state was blocked on June 28 by a federal judge, who said the statute is likely unconstitutional. Oklahoma House Bill 4156, signed into law in April by Gov. Kevin Stitt, allows state charges to be brought against illegal immigrants who are found in Oklahoma. It also requires those convicted to leave the state within 72 hours. U.S. officials sued over the law before it took effect on July 1, arguing that it violated the U.S. Constitution by adopting a state-based immigration system that clashes with the federal system. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond told the court that granting the government’s bid to block the statute would “render the states helpless and passive vassals to a federal government that refuses to enforce its own laws in express and misguided deference to the whims of foreign governments.”...