Long legal fight looms for immigration reforms.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: A federal judge has indicated he has no intention of acting with expediency in regard to a request from the Obama administration to delay an order blocking the president’s latest round of executive action on immigration.
Last week, the Department of Justice informed U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen that the federal government had issued new 3-year “deferred action” grants and work permits to 100,000 people between November 24 and when Hanen blocked President Barack Obama’s immigration reforms on February 16.
According to Josh Gerstein at Politico, the conglomerate of 26 states whose litigation originally convinced Hanen to block the immigration protocols called the federal disclosure “surprising.” They collectively assert DOJ lawyers assured the court that no action pertaining to Obama’s new immigration policies would be taken until mid-February.
Hanen, who sits in Brownville, Texas, released a statement signaling he wants a more complete explanation of what transpired.
“Due to the seriousness of the matters discussed therein, the Court will not rule on any other pending motions until it is clear that these matters, if true, do not impact the pending matters or any rulings previously made by this Court,” Hanen wrote. He set a hearing on the matter for March 19 and ordered that Justice Department lawyers “be prepared to fully explain to this Court all of the matters addressed in and circumstances surrounding” the notice he was given by the Justice Department last week.
Hanen’s decision means the federal government could look to circumvent his authority by seeking a stay directly from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
“Absent a ruling by close of business on Monday, March 9, 2015, Defendants may seek relief from the Court of Appeals in order to protect their interests,” DOJ lawyers wrote in a statement filed with the U.S. District Court last week.
A few weeks ago, federal government attorneys set a similar deadline for Hanen, but refrained from taking their case to the 5th Circuit after he failed to rule by the allotted time.