Bloomberg
By Laurel Calkins
January 8, 2015
Twenty-five
states’ top lawyers blasted the federal government’s claim that
President Barack Obama’s executive order letting more than 4 million
undocumented immigrants
stay in the U.S. is above judicial review.
The
states are trying to block the order from taking effect until their
challenge to overturn the policy plays out in federal court in
Brownsville, Texas. Immigration
officials will soon begin processing applications to let certain
undocumented workers avoid deportation and apply for work permits and
some federal benefits, such as Social Security and Medicare.
The
administration claims the policy is “challengeable by no plaintiff,
reviewable by no court, and subject to no public input,” lawyers for the
states said in an 88-page
filing. The last U.S. president to take this stance was Harry Truman,
and the Supreme Court blocked executive orders he issued during a
steelworkers’ labor dispute in 1952, the states said.
“This court should respond likewise,” the states said. “Only the courts can prevent the executive’s self-aggrandizement.”
The
Department of Homeland Security has urged the judge to dismiss the
case, saying the executive branch has broad authority to order
immigration officials to “prioritize
their resources” on removing criminals and illegal immigrants without
family ties to the U.S.
Obama’s
Nov. 20 order grants quasi-legal status to more than a third of the
estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants already in the U.S.
undocumented immigrants must
have been in the country for more than five years or have a child who
is a U.S. citizen, or have been brought here themselves as children, to
qualify under the new policy. They must also pass a criminal background
check.
The
states claim they have the legal right to challenge the executive order
because they have to spend “hundreds of millions of dollars on health,
education and law-enforcement
programs” that will be strained by a new wave of immigrants encouraged
to enter the U.S. illegally because of the new policy.
The judge has set a hearing in the matter for Jan. 15.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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