Separately, the appeals court on Thursday allowed three illegal immigrant women from Texas to participate in the case in support of the administration. Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. wrote in court briefs filed.
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He said however that now the path was open for the Supreme Court to have a final say on the measures. The appeal comes exactly one year after the program was announced.
A federal district court and then a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans, in a 2-to-1 decision, agreed with the states’ arguments. “I am hopeful that the Supreme Court will find the President’s actions lawful, and that justice for millions of workers and families will eventually be served”. The administration had said at the time that it would appeal the ruling.
Immigration advocates are hoping that the justices will take up the case and rule in favor of the president by June. The states had also raised a constitutional challenge to the policy, but the lower courts opted not to rule on it.
The Obama administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court to rescue the president’s overhaul of the nation’s immigration system. The dissention came Obama’s appointee, Judge Stephen A. Higginson. Judge Hanen reasoned that the administration did not “comply” with Administrative Procedures Act’s “requirements”.
“On a day when we should be celebrating the enormous positive impact that these executive actions have had on millions of American families and the economy, it is a shame that we have to instead discuss all that we are losing out on,”said Lizet Ocampo, CAP Associate Director of Immigration and co-author of the report”. It added two other questions: was the new policy beyond the government’s authority, and did it have a duty to give the public a chance to comment on the policy before it was adopted?
“The actions are on hold because of a lawsuit filed by Gov. Greg Abbott”, said Mary Moreno, a spokeswoman for the Texas Organizing Project, an immigrant advocacy group.
“More than 11 million removable aliens are estimated to live in the U.S. But Congress has appropriated the funds to remove only a fraction of that population in any given year”, the administration’s appeal said. Those targets include a wide range of criminals, from repeat felony offenders, to any undocumented immigrant who’s had a drunk driving conviction at any time they’ve been here. “It bars approximately 4 million parents – who have lived in this country for years, would pass a background check, are not priorities for removal, and have “a son or daughter who is a USA citizen or lawful permanent resident” from requesting deferred action under the Guidance and receiving authorization to work lawfully”, the DOJ wrote in its petition.
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Meanwhile, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Linda Sánchez said she and other Hispanic lawmakers will continue to “fight tooth and nail” to defend Obama’s executive actions but that ultimately “only Congress can provide real and lasting protections”.
