(Photo credit: NAM)
By Elena Shore
A federal judge this week blocked Obama’s executive actions from going into effect, a move immigration reform advocates are calling only a “temporary setback.”
Texas U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen issued a temporary injunction on Monday, siding with Texas and 25 other states that signed on to a lawsuit against Obama’s executive actions on immigration. The White House announced on Tuesday that the Department of Justice is appealing the decision.
The judge’s ruling was released just two days before the expanded version of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was slated to go into effect.
It means that — until the ruling is blocked or overturned by a higher court — individuals will not be able to apply for the new programs announced by President Obama on Nov. 20, 2014. These include the expanded version of DACA, which was slated to start Wednesday, and the new program for parents of U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents, called Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA), which was expected to start in May.
Together the programs could protect over 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation and provide them with temporary work authorization.
Monday’s ruling does not affect so-called Dreamers, who can still apply for (and renew) DACA under the program that was announced in 2012.
The chess game
The federal lawsuit in Texas is the latest move in a broader political chess match now being played out between Republicans and Democrats over the president’s recent steps on immigration reform.
Since Obama’s announcement in November, Republicans have attempted to block his initiatives in Congress. But the legislation has not gotten passed the Senate (and even if it did, it would be vetoed by the president).
That left one pathway for the GOP to challenge Obama’s executive actions: through the courts…The case is expected to go next to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, a three-judge panel known for its conservative bent. After that, the case would go to a full U.S. court of appeals and even potentially all the way to the Supreme Court.
“The wheels of justice are slow,” said Marshall Fitz [vice president of immigration policy at the Center for American Progress], “but at the end of the track, we will have confirmed legality and the program will be implemented.”
Immigration advocates have several reasons to be confident.
Read the full article at newamericamedia.org »
—
Related:
US Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Obama Immigration Directives (Video)
Join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook.
