Conservative judges named to panel weighing immigration actions

CNN

By Ariane de Vogue

June 29, 2015

Conservative judges named to panel weighing immigration actions

Even though the Obama administration got good news from the Supreme Court on the Affordable Care Act and same-sex marriage, on Monday it received very bad news regarding its immigration initiatives that are tied up in federal court.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals announced the identities of the three-judge panel who will hear the case next week, and it is made up of two of the same conservative appointees that refused to unblock the programs at the end of May.

The Obama administration was holding out hope that it might draw some more friendly judges (even though this court is very conservative) but those hopes are now dashed.

At the end of May, the appeals court denied a request from Justice Department lawyers to allow Obama's controversial immigration actions to go into effect pending appeal.

The decision was a victory for Texas and 25 other states that are challenging the Obama administration's actions, which were blocked by a District Court judge in February. The May decision means that while the issue is appealed, eligible undocumented immigrants will be unable to apply for the programs aimed at easing deportation threats.

"Because the government is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its appeal of the injunction, we deny the motion for stay and the request to narrow the scope of the injunction," according to the 2-1 decision by a panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

At issue is the implementation of the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents and the expansion of the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program that permits teenagers and young adults who were born outside of the United States, but raised in the country, to apply for protection from deportation and for employment authorizations.

For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com