HOUSTON
— A federal judge late Tuesday kept a temporary hold on President
Barack Obama's executive action that sought to shield millions of
immigrants from deportation, rejecting a U.S. Department of Justice
request that he allow the action to go ahead.
U.S.
District Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville refused to lift the
preliminary injunction he granted on Feb. 16 at the request of 26 states
who oppose Obama's action.
Hanen's
latest ruling confirms the status quo — that the Obama administration
is temporarily barred from allowing as many as 5 million people in the
U.S. illegally to remain.
The
Justice Department has appealed to a higher court, the 5th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals in New Orleans, to lift Hanen's injunction. The
appeals court was scheduled to hear arguments on whether the injunction
should be lifted on April 17.
In
his order Tuesday denying the government's request, Hanen said the
government hasn't "shown any credible reason for why this Directive
necessitates immediate implementation."
There was no immediate comment from the White House.
The
coalition of 26 states filed the lawsuit to overturn Obama's executive
actions, which would spare from deportation as many as 5 million people
who are in the U.S. illegally. The states, led by Texas, argue that the
action is unconstitutional and would force them to invest more in law
enforcement, health care and education.
Justice
Department attorneys have argued that keeping the temporary hold harms
"the interests of the public and of third parties who will be deprived
of significant law enforcement and humanitarian benefits of prompt
implementation" of the president's immigration action.
Obama
announced the executive orders in November, saying a lack of action by
Congress forced him to make sweeping changes to immigration rules on his
own.
Before
ruling on the injunction, Hanen said he first wanted to hear from
federal prosecutors about allegations that the U.S. government had
misled him about the implementation of part of the immigration plan.
The
first of Obama's orders — to expand a program that protects young
immigrants from deportation if they were brought to the U.S. illegally
as children — had been set to take effect Feb. 18. The other major part
would extend deportation protections to parents of U.S. citizens and
permanent residents who have been in the country for several years. That
provision was slated to begin on May 19.
Hanen
issued his initial injunction believing that neither of those orders
had taken effect. About a month later, the Justice Department confirmed
that more than 108,000 people had already received three-year reprieves
from deportation and work permits, but DOJ attorneys insisted the moves
were made under 2012 guidelines that weren't blocked by the injunction.
The DOJ apologized for any confusion, but Hanen seemed unconvinced
during a hearing last month and threatened to sanction the attorneys.
He
wrote Tuesday that while the federal government had been "misleading"
on the subject, he would not immediately apply sanctions against the
government, saying to do so would not be "in the interests of justice or
in the best interest of this country" because the issue was of national
importance and the outcome will affect millions of people.
"The
parties' arguments should be decided on their relative merits according
to the law, not clouded by outside allegations that may or may not bear
on the ultimate issues in this lawsuit," Hanen wrote.
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