The Biden Administration threatened Texas on Thursday to sue it if the state moves forward with its new anti-illegal immigrant law signed by Governor Abbott this month. Greg Abbott, the Republican Governor of Texas, says he’s prepared to fight the case to the Supreme Court.

Abbott signed SB 4 this month. This legislation allows for law enforcement to arrest illegal aliens and state judges to order their removal from the country.

The Department of Justice, in a letter sent to Abbott and first reported by Houston Chronicle, says that it will “pursue any legal remedies necessary to ensure Texas doesn’t interfere with federal functions.”

According to the outlet, the letter states that the law is “intrusive into a field occupied by federal government, and is preempted,” using a Supreme Court decision from 2012, U.S.v Arizona, that found the federal authority to enforce immigration laws.

Abbott’s Office said in a Fox News Digital statement that Texas is prepared to defend the law at the highest level of the country.

Renae Eze, a spokesperson for Texas, said that the state was prepared to fight President Biden’s open-border policies all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. President Biden’s dangerous and deliberate inaction on our southern border left Texas to its own devices. Last week, Governor Abbott signed Senate Bill 4 to stop the tide of illegal immigration into Texas while the President refuses enforce federal immigration laws.

This legal battle is part of the ongoing conflict between Abbott and Biden over the crisis at the border with illegal immigrants, in which Texas has played a leading role. Abbott accused the Biden Administration of failing to secure border while the Biden Administration accused Abbott of promoting unhumane border policies.

A federal appeals court temporarily stopped the Biden administration last week from cutting the razor wire that Texas had installed earlier this year. The state sued in October, and was rejected by a federal court. However, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has barred the Biden Administration from damaging, destroying or interfering with Texas’s [concertina-wire] fence near Eagle Pass, Texas, unless there is a medical emergency.

Separately the DOJ sued Texas for its deployment of buoys on the Rio Grande in order to stop illegal crossings. Texas claims the buoys were installed to prevent people from crossing the Rio Grande, but the DOJ and humanitarian groups argue that the barrier is a safety hazard.

The White House also criticised Abbott’s decision to bus migrants into “sanctuary cities” such as Chicago and New York City. Abbott claims that this is necessary in order to relieve border communities of their burden.

“We are convinced that Gov. Abbott’s political stunts and policies are unsafe, both for Texas communities, and also our CBP and law enforcement officers on the ground, who are doing their job. They put them in danger, and they dehumanize or demonize the immigrants. Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary, said that last week.

A new lawsuit is being threatened as border crossings reach record levels. Fox News reported that over 35,000 migrants were encountered during the four-day holiday weekend. Since Dec. 1, more than 250,000 migrants have crossed the border.

A delegation of the Biden administration, including Secretary Antony Blinken (of State) and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (of Homeland Security), met with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Wednesday to discuss migration crises in the hemisphere.