The Texas judge who put a hold on President Barack Obama’s illegal immigration executive order is now calling the Justice Department to task over alleged implementation of specific portions of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) dictates. The Obama administration told U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen that the federal government had not moved forward with the 2012 executive action when legal proceedings first began. Now, the White House has reportedly admitted that action had begun in the 3-year deportation reprieves for illegal immigrants.
A March 19 hearing on the illegal immigrants executive action dig deeper into the “what happened when” aspect of the Obama administration’s implementation of DACA. On February 18, Judge Hanen ordered that the issuance of Social Security numbers, green cards, and work permits for 5 million illegal immigrants covered under DACA mandates come to a halt. The Texas judge became involved in the heated and controversial political debate after 26 states sued to block Obama’s executive action.
In recently filed court documents in the DACA case, attorneys for the federal government revealed that the Obama administration had gone ahead and granted a deportation reprieve to 100,000 illegal immigrants. The individuals have also been given work permits.
The judge’s stay in the case remains in place at least until the upcoming hearing concludes. “The court finds that the government’s failure to secure the border has exacerbated illegal immigration into this country,” U.S. District Judge Hanen stated in his ruling last month. He also noted that many states were being “drained by the constant influx of illegal immigrants.”
Lawyers for the Department of Justice had informed Judge Hanen that they would not accept DACA requests within “longer time frames” until February 18. The hearing where the United States District Judge ruled a prohibition on issuing DACA privileges occurred two days before the DOJ has scheduled for such activities to begin.
The attorneys for the 26 states suing the Obama administration reportedly plans to argue that the federal government “falsely claimed” it had not started issuing DACA work permits and other amenities to illegal immigrants before the district judge ordered the halt. Attorneys for the Obama administration have asked Judge Hanen to lift his order while the government appeals to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans or to adjust his ruling and limit the power of his decision to impact the state of Texas alone.
What do you think about the illegal immigration plan by the Obama administration and the halt ordered by the Texas judge?
[Image via Shutterstock ]