'It just slaps the federal immigration law in the face,' Judge David A. Ezra said during the first day of a trial over the legality of Texas' new law allowing state and local cops to arrest migrants.
Gov. Greg Abbott's program has sent 100,000 migrants from border communities to Washington D.C., New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver and Los Angeles.
'This is hateful, dangerous, sick rhetoric from a sitting governor ... in the United States of America,' U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, said.
An investigation found that Texas officials initially provided information on the trips to advocacy groups but quietly ended those communications last fall.
The federal government says the new law, which allows state police to arrest people they think crossed the border illegally, violates the U.S. Constitution.
The lawmakers, including San Antonio U.S. Reps. Joaquin Castro and Greg Casar, also want the Biden Administration to clarify its position about whether the governor's border mission is violating federal law.