Obama dealt another legal setback on immigration
A federal appeals court has rejected the administration's request to lift an order blocking President Barack Obama's executive actions on immigration last November, which had offered quasi-legal status and work permits to millions more undocumented immigrants.
The 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals voted, 2-1, to deny an emergency stay of an injunction a lower court judge imposed on Obama's plan earlier this year.
Some of the first reaction came in a tweet from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who has led the charge of 26 states suing the federal government over the executive actions.
"Texas just won the Executive Amnesty case at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals," wrote Abbott, using a shorthand for Texas v. United States. "The constitution wins."
The Obama administration can now turn to the U.S. Supreme Court for a green light to proceed with the program, or Justice Department officials could wait until the 5th Circuit rules on the merits of U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen's legal rationale for the injunction he entered in February. A different panel of the appeals court is expected to hear arguments on those issues in early July.
The three 5th Circuit judges deciding the case were randomly selected. Two of the three judges selected were appointed by Republican presidents, while the other was appointed by Obama.
Hanen ruled in February that Obama's November actions expanding a program for illegal immigrants who entered the country as children and creating a new program for illegal immigrant parents of U.S. citizens violated federal law because they were not properly announced and opened for public comment before being put into effect.
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