By Richard Wolf and Alan Gomez | USA TODAY
A federal appeals court dealt a potentially fatal blow Monday to President Obama’s immigration plan, leaving more than 4 million undocumented immigrants in legal limbo and setting up a possible Supreme Court battle at the sunset of his administration.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit upheld a challenge to the deferred deportation program brought by Texas and 25 other states with Republican governors, who argued that Obama lacked the authority to protect about one-third of the nation’s undocumented immigrants by executive fiat.
NEWS RELEASE: Grijalva Denounces Political Ruling Prolonging Injunction on Immigration Executive Actions
TUCSON – Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) released the following statement today after the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld by a 2-1 vote a temporary injunction preventing President Obama from implementing deferred action programs granting relief to people caught in our broken immigration system. The expansion of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and the creation of DAPA (Deferred Action for Parental Accountability) were announced in November 2014 after Congressional Republicans blocked bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform. The matter now rests with the Supreme Court, which has the opportunity to resolve the case before the end of President Obama’s term, ensuring that the next president will not have to start the process over.
“The ruling announced last night is the politicization of justice, pure and simple,” Rep. Grijalva said. “The Fifth Circuit delayed its 2-1 decision as long as possible to deny the Supreme Court time to undo it. In sports that’s called running out the clock – in this case, it’s prolonging the agony of countless families suffering in our broken immigration system. Each additional day means more families torn apart, more kids turned away from the only country they’ve ever called home, and more missed opportunities for our society as we reject talented and hardworking people for no good reason at all. It’s beyond time to end this madness, and it reflects well on President Obama that he led when Republicans refused on this issue. The next stage in the fight is with the Supreme Court, and I urge the justices to act swiftly and justly to protect the men, women and children that are counting on them.”
