Appeals Court Rules In Favor Of Obama Administration In Challenge to 2012 Exec. Amnesty

A three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a dismissal of a challenge to President Barack Obama’s 2012 executive amnesty, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

The case — which was decided in advance of another challenge to Obama’s more sweeping November 20, 2014 executive amnesty — involved a lawsuit challenging DACA on the part of a number of immigration enforcement agents and the state of Mississippi, according to a report in  Politico.

According to the report, the court found that the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue because they did not prove that the program would harm the agents or the state.

“Neither Mississippi nor the Agents have alleged a sufficiently concrete and particularized injury that would give Plaintiffs standing to challenge DACA,” Politico quoted the opinion written by Judge W. Eugene Davis and joined by Judges Carolyn King and Priscilla Owen.

The opinion comes as the 5th Circuit is set to consider the Obama administration’s appeal of a district court judge’s hold on Obama’s more sweeping executive actions last year, specifically the expansion of DACA and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA).

U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen placed the injunction on the actions in February to allow the case of 26 states challenging the executive amnesty to work its way through the courts.

Politico pointed out that the way the justice’s dealt with Mississippi’s challenge could foreshadow the court’s consideration of the 26 state’s challenge, however the publication noted that the 26 state’s injury argument is different from Mississippi’s.

“The district court held that Mississippi’s alleged fiscal injury was purely speculative because there was no concrete evidence that Mississippi’s costs had increased or will increase as a result of DACA. Based on the record before the district court, we agree,” Politico quoted Davis. “Mississippi submitted no evidence that any DACA eligible immigrants resided in the state. Nor did Mississippi produce evidence of costs it would incur if some DACA-approved immigrants came to the state.”