The immigration plan of President Obama that would prevent illegal immigrants from being deported had another setback as the appeals court ruled against it Monday. Therefore, the fate of about five million undocumented people living in the U.S. is once again in limbo.
The implementation of the executive action of the President seems unlikely as it received a 2-1 decision from New Orleans’ 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. It could take several months to appeal the injunction and it could again be sent back to the Texas federal court, depending on how things turn out.
Criticisms from Republicans
When it was announced by the President a year ago, the Republicans said the plan was an illegal executive overreach. It was challenged in court by 26 states. A temporary injunction was granted by U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen, which prevented its implementation in February. The court agreed with the states that legalizing such a large number of people would be a permanent and irreparable action.
The administration said that the decision to postpone the deportation of selected groups of foreigners, including illegally brought children was within the rights of the executive branch.
In a news release, Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas said that the President should start to enforce the law and just abandon the program of executive amnesty, which he said was lawless.
Appeal for a re-hearing
Rather than appeal for a re-hearing, the National Immigration Law Center said that the administration should request a Supreme Court appeal immediately, according to Marielena Hincapie, as it directly affects those children who are already U.S. citizens because their parents would not be deported, at least temporarily.
In a statement released by the Justice Department, it said that it did not agree with the ruling of the court. It said that the action of the President would allow the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to prioritize the deportation of worst offenders instead of those people who are already raising children who have become citizens of the United States.
Judge Carolyn Dineen King, who wrote the 53-page dissent, said that the administration was within its right, as there are some deportations that require discretion because the resources of the DHS are limited. There are about 11.3 million aliens who could be deported from the U.S. today; however, Congress had only provided the DHS with resources to process the removal of about 400,000 aliens each year.
Image credit:By Sgt. Valerie Lopez (https://www.dvidshub.net/image/399899)via Wikimedia Commons
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