By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, North America and Oceania
WASHINGTON, D.C., United States of America — The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday upheld a Texas-based federal judge’s injunction blocking President Barack Obama’s plan to protect parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents along with more immigrants who came to the country as children. The Obama administration will ask the Supreme Court to weigh in on the president’s plan to shield as many as 5 million immigrants living in the country illegally from deportation.
Lawyers for the administration had been expecting the Fifth Circuit ruling to go against the president, noting the high number of judges appointed by Republican presidents.
The three-judge panel for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans ruled 2 to 1 against an appeal by the Obama administration, saying a lawsuit brought by 26 states to block Mr. Obama’s actions was likely to succeed at trial.
Mr. Obama announced last November that he would use his executive authority to effectively stop deporting the undocumented parents of American children. That program, known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, would also allow the parents to work legally in the United States.
The plan was first blocked in February by a Federal District Court judge in Texas, who ruled that allowing millions of illegal immigrants to remain lawfully in the United States would prove costly to the State of Texas. The judge at that trial also said the government had not followed the proper procedures for enacting the new immigration rules.
Writing for the two judges in the majority, Judge Jerry Smith found that Texas had established it was in a strong legal position to bring the lawsuit because it would be harmed by new costs for issuing driver’s licenses to immigrants. He also found that the program would undercut the will of Congress.
In a scathing dissent, Judge Carolyn King said the two other judges, as well as the District Court judge, had misstated the basic facts of the case. She accused her colleagues of basing their decisions on conjecture, intuition, or preconception.
In the last several weeks, administration officials and other supporters of the immigration actions had expressed frustration that the appeals court had taken so long to rule. Marielena Hincapié, the executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, said that while the appeals court ruling might be seen as another defeat for her cause, “the silver lining is that this is just in the nick of time for the administration to go to the Supreme Court.”
Under normal circumstances, in order for the Supreme Court to hear the case this term, briefing would have to be completed by mid-winter. The National Immigration Law Center has called for a quick Supreme Court appeal.
For more information please see:
BBC News — Federal appeals court halts Obama immigration action – 10 November 2015
CNN — Court upholds block on Obama’s immigration plan – 10 November 2015
NY Times — Appeals Court Deals Blow to Obama’s Immigration Plans – 9 November 2015
