EXCLUSIVE: Texas Weighs Lawsuit Against Federal Government Over Border Crisis

by Brandon Darby

Jul 3, 2014 9:02 AM PT

AUSTIN, Texas— In a Breitbart Texas exclusive, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott revealed the State of Texas is considering suing the federal government over the costs associated with the current border crisis, primarily involving unaccompanied minors and incomplete family units from Central America.

“There are costs to all of this: the humanitarian crisis, healthcare, and law enforcement demands. As Attorney General, I am looking into taking legal action against the United States,” said Abbott.

The State of Texas previously sued the federal government in the 1990’s over the costs of healthcare, education, and law enforcement costs. The state alleged that the federal government’s failure to meet it’s border security obligations should result in the federal reimbursement to the state over associated costs. The suit ultimately failed after the 5th Circuit Court ruled against Texas.

Abbott addressed this issue to Breitbart Texas and said, “It was a political question. We are looking at a change of circumstances that will allow us to distinguish this suit from the 1990’s action.”

“We think we have a change of circumstance,” he added.

Abbott discussed the potential costs and disruptions to Texas school districts and said that several factors make accurately forecasting the coming reality difficult. He said the fact that the crisis was not made clear to the public or to the state until after Texas public schools were dismissed for the summer vacation and the fact that the federal government is not being clear and open with their plans for the nearly 60,000 unaccompanied minors who have illegally entered Texas are two factors that make planning very difficult

“This is a great frustration for Texas taxpayers.Plyler v. Doe hamstrings the State of Texas,” he said. Abbott was referring to a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that essentially obligated the State of Texas to educate children regardless of whether they were in the U.S. illegally or not.

“Because of the increase in the cross border influx and the strain on state resources, we have to revisit the amount the federal government picks up the tab for this,” said Abbott. “We need to hold the federal government responsible for this.”

Follow Brandon Darby on Twitter: @brandondarby.

Brandon Darby is managing director of Breitbart Texas.

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