Wall Street Journal
By Ana Campoy
March 19, 2015
The
U.S. government and Texas squared off in federal court Thursday over
whether the administration misled the court about when it planned to
start implementing President
Barack Obama’s November executive action on immigration.
The
dispute between the state and the Justice Department is a side issue in
the lawsuit that 26 states filed late last year challenging the
administration’s immigration
plan, which would delay deportation for some four million immigrants in
the country illegally. Lawyers for the federal government had told U.S.
District Judge Andrew Hanen that the executive actions wouldn't go into
effect until Feb. 18.
Federal
officials recently disclosed that they deferred the deportations of
some 100,000 immigrants under the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, for three years. That program, which isn't being challenged by
the state lawsuit, called for two-year deferrals, but the executive
order expanded the number of people eligible to apply for deferrals and
extended their duration to three years.
At
the hearing, lawyers for Texas said the Obama administration misled the
court, arguing that by granting three-year deferrals it effectively
started implementing the
new immigration plan. They asked the court to allow the state to
investigate the federal government’s deportation actions through early
discovery.
“We
need some additional information,” said Angela Colmenero, a state
assistant attorney general, “not just the word of a few attorneys from
the Department of Justice.”
But
lawyers for the federal government said early discovery was
unwarranted, given that it wasn't their intention to deceive the court.
Once Judge Hanen issued an injunction
on the immigration plan, officials discontinued the three-year
deferrals, they said.
“The government is trying to do the right thing,” said Kathleen Hartnett, deputy assistant attorney general for the U.S.
Judge Hanen said he would rule on the matter promptly.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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