ImmigrationFederal judge in Texas temporarily blocks Obama’s executive order

Late Monday night, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, a George W. Bush appointee and an outspoken critic of the administration’s immigration policies, temporarily blocked President Barack Obama’s executive action to offer deferred deportation to roughly five million undocumented immigrants.

The decision, which bars federal implementation of the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) and expanding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), was a response to a lawsuit filed by a coalition of twenty-six Republican-run states which argued that Obama had violated the “Take Care Clause” of the U.S. Constitution, which, these states’ attorney generals claimed, limits the scope of presidential power. The 26-state coalition also claims Obama’s orders would force them to increase investment in law enforcement, healthcare, and education.

“The court finds that the government’s failure to secure the border has exacerbated illegal immigration into this country,” Hanen wrote in a 123-page opinion. “Further, the record supports the finding that this lack of enforcement, combined with the country’s high rate of illegal immigration, significantly drains the states’ resources.”

In their request for an injunction, the twenty-six states said it was necessary because it would be “difficult or impossible to undo the President’s lawlessness after the Defendants (Obama administration) start granting applications for deferred action.”

Had Hanen not approved an injunction against Obama’s orders, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, on Wednesday ,18 February, would have begun accepting applications from those eligible for an extension of DACA, which would have granted work permits and deportation deferrals to undocumented immigrants brought illegally to the United States as children (DREAMers) (see “Undocumented immigrants begin application process as Congressional impasse continues,” HSNW, 17 February 2015).

According to Mercury News, the Obama administration is expected to appeal the ruling to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans; on the basis that “The Supreme Court and Congress have made clear that the federal government can set priorities in enforcing our immigration laws — which is exactly what the President did when he announced commonsense policies to help fix our broken immigration system,” read a statement from White House press secretary Josh Earnest. Twelve mostly liberal states, including Washington and California, have filed a motion with Hanen in support of the administration’s executive order, arguing the orders will substantially benefit states.

Law enforcement officials throughout the country, including members of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, have also filed a motion in support of the executive order, arguing it will improve public safety by encouraging immigrant communities better to cooperate with police (see “Police chiefs, sheriffs in major U.S. cities support immigration executive order,” HSNW, 19 January 2015).

Immigrants’ rights groups have lashed out at Hanen’s ruling. “Judge Hanen’s ruling is not permanent and we are confident that it will be repealed in a higher court,” Cristina Jimenez, managing director of United We Dream, a Washington, D.C.-based immigrant advocacy group, told the Los Angeles Times. “Republican attacks like this lawsuit do not scare us, they just focus our resolve to make these programs even more successful.”