The Obama administration will ask the Supreme Court to save the president's plan to shield as many as 5 million immigrants living in the country illegally from deportation, after lower courts blocked it.
A federal appeals court in New Orleans on Monday upheld a Texas-based federal judge's injunction against President Barack Obama's plan. Obama has issued executive orders to protect from deportation parents whose children are citizens or legal permanent residents, along with other immigrants who came to the country illegally as children.
BREAKING—The 5th Circuit has upheld the injunction against President Obama's executive action on immigration. #Texas pic.twitter.com/7kd1a1eOFi— Justice Don Willett (@JusticeWillett) November 10, 2015
The Justice Department said Tuesday it disagrees with the 2-1 ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and would appeal to the high court.
Republicans have criticized the plan as illegal executive overreach since Obama announced it last November. Twenty-six states challenged the plan in court.
The administration argued that the executive branch was within its rights in deciding to defer deportation of selected groups of immigrants, including children who were brought to the U.S. illegally.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott praised the ruling.
"President Obama should abandon his lawless executive amnesty program and start enforcing the law today," Abbott said in a news release.
More GovAbbott: "President's job is to enforce the immigration laws, not rewrite them. ... should abandon his lawless executive amnesty ..."— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) November 10, 2015
"We strongly disagree with the 5th Circuit's decision," the White House said in a statement. "The Supreme Court and Congress have made clear that the federal government can set priorities in enforcing our immigration laws."
The ruling further dims prospects of implementation of the executive action before Obama leaves office in 2017. Appeals over the injunction could take months and, depending on how the case unfolds, it could go back to the Texas federal court for more proceedings.
Justice Department spokesman Patrick Rodenbush said in a statement that the department "remains committed to taking steps that will resolve the immigration litigation as quickly as possible" so that the Department of Homeland Security can prioritize "the removal of the worst offenders, not people who have long ties to the United States and who are raising American children."
"I think ti's fair to say the Republicans have maximized the political problem they have" with Latinos vis-a-vis immigration @PressSec— Juliet Eilperin (@eilperin) November 10, 2015
Part of the initiative included expansion of a program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, protecting young immigrants from deportation if they were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. The other major part, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, would extend deportation protections to parents of U.S. citizens and permanent residents who have been in the country for years.
The 70-page majority opinion by Judge Jerry Smith, joined by Jennifer Walker Elrod, rejected administration arguments that the district judge abused his discretion with a nationwide order and that the states lacked standing to challenge Obama's executive orders.
In a 53-page dissent, Judge Carolyn Dineen King said the administration was within the law, casting the decision to defer action on some deportations as "quintessential exercises of prosecutorial discretion," and noting that the Department of Homeland Security has limited resources.
Read both the opinion and the dissent below.
On Tuesday, the 2016 Democratic presidential candidates were quick to line up behind President Obama.
@BernieSanders on immigration: President right to appeal this unfortunate decision. Immigration policy should be about uniting families— Fernando Pizarro (@FPizarro_DC) November 10, 2015
Clinton: "I strongly disagree" with 5th Circuit ruling against Obama's immigration actions, hopes for "fair" hearing before SCOTUS.— Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) November 10, 2015
Meanwhile, on the GOP side, there hasn't been a lot of reaction on Tuesday morning but rest assured the topic will come up in Tuesday night's debate in Milwaukee.
Marco Rubio is totally weak on illegal immigration & in favor of easy amnesty. A lightweight choker - bad for #USA!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2015