President Obama and the Department of Justice filed a petition on Friday asking the United States Supreme Court to overturn the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit putting a halt to the administration’s executive amnesty program. The administration has asked for an expedited appellate review.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling on November 9th effectively putting the brakes on President Obama’s executive amnesty program.
Texas led the way in suing the President to block his November 2014 executive amnesty order and 26 other states joined in the lawsuit. Texas was joined by the states of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
The Fifth Circuit ruled in early November that the lower federal district court did not err in granting a halt to Obama’s executive amnesty program. Federal Judge Andrew Hanen previously issued the order stopping the president’s actions, as reported by Breitbart Texas.
After the Fifth Circuit’s ruling, Texas Governor Abbott said, “The court’s decision is a vindication for the Rule of Law and the Constitution.” Abbott initially filed the lawsuit in 2014 during his final months as Texas’ Attorney General.
Abbott continued, “The President’s job is to enforce the immigration laws, not rewrite them. President Obama should abandon his lawless executive amnesty program and start enforcing the law today.”
The Fifth Circuit opined, “Reviewing the district court’s order for abuse of discretion, we affirm the preliminary injunction because the states have standing; they have established a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of their procedural and substantive APA claims; and they have satisfied the other elements required for an injunction.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released a statement after the ruling stating, “Today, the Fifth Circuit asserted that the separation of powers remains the law of the land, and the president must follow the rule of law, just like everybody else.” He added, “Throughout this process, the Obama Administration has aggressively disregarded the constitutional limits on executive power, and Texas, leading a charge of 26 states, has secured an important victory to put a halt to the president’s lawlessness.”
As reported by Breitbart News, Obama ordered the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to implement a federal program in November 2014 called Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). The program enlarged a 2012 executive program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) which gave approximately 1 million foreign-born children and young adults of illegal immigrants “deferred action” status. The program was designed to keep the children from being deported. Approximately 4.3 million individuals who are in the country could be affected by the DAPA program.
Deferred action, however, is much more than nonenforcement: It would affirmatively confer “lawful presence” and associated benefits on a class of unlawfully present aliens. Though revocable, that change in designation would trigger … eligibility for federal benefits—for example, under … the Social Security Act—and state benefits—for example, driver’s licenses and unemployment insurance—that would not otherwise be available to illegal aliens.
Lana Shadwick is a contributing writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as an associate judge and prosecutor. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2
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