AUSTIN, Texas — Attorney General and Governor-elect Greg Abbott is prepared to file a lawsuit opposing President Barack Obama’s executive orders shielding illegal immigrants from deportation in as little as two weeks. Abbott made the announcement at a press conference Monday in Austin.
As Breitbart Texas reported, Obama’s plan could allow up to five million illegal immigrants to remain in the United States by “deferring action” on deportation orders for parents of children who were U.S. citizens or legal residents, as long as they had been in the country at least five years, passed a criminal background check, and paid back taxes. Immigration activists on both sides of the aisle criticized the plan as failing to address needed reforms with the legal immigration process, devote sufficient resources to border security, or provide relief to workers seeking work visas in non-high tech jobs. After Obama had made his announcement, Abbott vowed that Texas would seek “immediate” legal action, and on Monday, he provided more details about how he plans to proceed.
“Most everyone agrees that the immigration system in America is broken [and] most everyone agrees that executive fiat is not the right way to fix it,” said Abbott. “The president must follow the law just like everyone else.”
Abbott told reporters that would be spending the next two weeks conferring with other governors and attorneys general in other states to come up with a plan, and that the “odds are in favor” that he would move ahead with a lawsuit after that period. Abbott has sued the federal government more than thirty times since Obama was sworn into office.
The Attorney General’s office released the following statement from Abbott:
“This is a legal issue, not a political issue, and President Obama has crossed a serious legal line with his proposed unilateral immigration executive action. The President’s action violates his constitutional duty to faithfully enforce immigration laws that were duly enacted by Congress, circumvents the will of the American people and is an affront to the families and individuals who follow our laws to legally immigrate to the United States. The State of Texas will assert a legal action against President Obama’s unconstitutional abuse of power.
“Most everyone agrees that our immigration system is broken and must be fixed. But executive fiat is not the way to fix it. President Obama apparently feels completely unrestrained by our Constitution. He is abdicating his responsibility to uphold and enforce the Constitution and attempting to rewrite immigration laws, which he has no authority to do – something the President himself has previously admitted. The President doesn’t have the authority to alter or suspend laws – he is simply required to execute the laws passed by Congress.
“President Obama’s actions violate the Take Care Clause of the U.S. Constitution, Article 1 Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, and the Administrative Procedure Act. And his actions will undoubtedly do nothing to fix our broken immigration system, but rather encourage more illegal immigration and only exacerbate the problem.”
Anthony Holm, a spokesman for Attorney General-elect Ken Paxton, confirmed to Breitbart Texas that the Paxton administration would continue to support the litigation after Paxton takes over the office in January. “Current Attorney General and Governor-Elect Abbott has a long history of protecting Texans against Washington’s overreach. Attorney General-Elect Paxton will continue fighting Washington’s overreach and defending the interests of Texans.”
Follow Sarah Rumpf on Twitter @rumpfshaker
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