Wall Street Journal
By Nathan Koppel
March 12, 2015
The
Obama administration asked a U.S. appellate court Thursday to let it
move ahead with new immigration measures while it appeals a ruling by a
federal judge in Texas
that blocked them.
U.S.
District Judge Andrew Hanen of Brownsville, Texas, sided last month
with officials from 26 largely Republican states who had sued,
contending that President Barack
Obama overstepped his authority.
An
injunction issued by Judge Hanen prevented part of Mr. Obama’s
executive action—which would have permitted about four million people in
the country illegally to apply
for deferred deportation and work authorizations—from taking effect.
In
a brief filed with the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the
administration said Judge Hanen’s ruling undermined the federal
government’s authority to prioritize
which undocumented immigrants to deport.
“The
Constitution does not entitle states to intrude into the uniquely
federal domain of immigration enforcement,” the administration said,
asking the Fifth Circuit to
stay Judge Hanen’s injunction by March 26, at the latest.
The administration has filed a separate appeal of the injunction with the Fifth Circuit.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is leading the suit by the states, objected to the administration’s latest request.
“President
Obama’s unconstitutional use of executive power to accomplish what he
couldn’t do in Congress sets a dangerous precedent that threatens the
fabric of our republic,”
he said in a statement Thursday.
The Justice Department asked Judge Hanen last month to postpone his ruling while it pursues an appeal.
But
the judge has so far declined to grant the request. Instead, he
recently scheduled a March 19 hearing to examine a side dispute.
The
26 states filed a brief last week claiming the administration,
beginning late last year, implemented part of its immigration program by
issuing expanded work permits,
even though it had allegedly represented to Judge Hanen that it
wouldn’t do so until February.
“In
an apparent attempt to quickly execute President Obama’s unlawful,
unconstitutional amnesty plan, the Obama administration appears to have
already been issuing expanded
work permits,” Mr. Paxton said in a statement accompanying the brief.
The
Justice Department on Thursday filed a brief with Judge Hanen claiming
the administration had implemented only a discrete aspect of its
immigration program that wasn’t
being challenged in the suit, and that the issue had no bearing on
whether to grant a stay.
A
national immigrant rights’ group on Thursday said it supported the
administration request. “Our communities are robbed of the opportunity
to live free from fear of deportation
and our economy is deprived of much-needed fiscal benefits with each
day that this injunction remains in place,” said Marielena Hincapié,
executive director of the National Immigration Law Center.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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