A US federal judge in Texas on Monday temporarily blocked US President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration, giving a coalition of 26 states time to pursue a lawsuit that aims to permanently stop the orders.
US District Judge Andrew Hanen’s decision comes after a hearing in Brownsville, Texas, last month. It puts on hold Obama’s orders that could spare from deportation as many as 5 million people who are illegally in the US.
Hanen wrote in a memorandum accompanying his order that the suit should go forward and that without a preliminary injunction the states will “suffer irreparable harm in this case.”
“The genie would be impossible to put back into the bottle,” he wrote, adding that he agreed with the plaintiffs’ argument that legalizing the presence of millions of people is a “virtually irreversible” action.
The US government is expected to appeal the ruling to the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
Neither the White House nor the US Department of Justice had any comment early yesterday.
The first of Obama’s orders — to expand a program that protects young immigrants from deportation if they were brought to the US illegally as children — was to start taking effect today.
The other major part of Obama’s order, which extends deportation protections to parents of US citizens and permanent residents who have been in the country for many years, was not expected to begin until May 19.
Texas Organizing Project political director Joaquin Guerra called the ruling a “temporary setback.”
“We will continue getting immigrants ready to apply for administrative relief,” he said in a statement.
The coalition of states, led by Texas and made up of mostly conservative states in the US south and Midwest, said that Obama has violated the “Take Care Clause” of the US Constitution, which they say limits the scope of presidential power.
They also say the order will force increased investment in law enforcement, healthcare and education.
In their request for the injunction, the coalition said it was necessary because it would be “difficult or impossible to undo the president’s lawlessness after the defendants start granting applications for deferred action.”
The White House has said Obama’s executive order is not out of legal bounds and that the US Supreme Court and US Congress have said federal officials can set priorities in enforcing immigration laws.
Past US Supreme Court decisions have granted immigration officials “broad discretion” on deportation matters.
Others supporting Obama’s executive order include a group of 12 mostly liberal states, including Washington State and California, as well as Washington DC.
They filed a motion with Hanen in support of Obama, saying that the directives would substantially benefit states and further the public interest.
A group of law enforcement officials, including the Major Cities Chiefs Association and more than 20 police chiefs and sheriffs from across the country, also filed a motion in support, saying that the executive action would improve public safety by encouraging cooperation between police and individuals with concerns about their immigration status.
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