Bay Area Groups Expect Ruling Blocking Immigration Actions to be Overturned

By Bay City News Service:

Representatives of two Bay Area immigrants’ rights groups said Tuesday they expect an order by a federal judge in Texas blocking presidential executive actions on immigrationto be overturned.

“Our message to the community is that this is a temporary obstacle and we are very confident we will be able to overcome it,” said Vanessa Sandoval of the Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network, known as SIREN, in San Jose. Sandoval is director of the group’s immigrant legal services.

Executive Director Reshma Shamasunder of the California Immigrant Policy Center in Oakland said, “We have every confidence the higher courts will overturn this decision.

“Thus, we encourage community members who are eligible for the new programs to keep getting ready to apply, “ Shamasunder said on Tuesday. “Yesterday’s rogue ruling was merely the first step in a legal process that immigrant community members will ultimately win.”

The temporary injunction was issued Monday by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen of Brownsville, Texas, in a lawsuit filed by Texas and 25 other states to challenge executive actions on immigration announced by President Obama last year. Unless overturned on appeal, the order would be in effect until a trial or further court order on the lawsuit and would block two actions protecting certain groups of immigrants from deportation.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest announced Tuesday that the Justice Department will appeal. The appeal would go to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

“The Supreme Court and Congress have made clear that the federal government can set priorities in enforcing our immigration laws -- which is exactly what the President did when he announced commonsense policies to help fix our broken immigration system,” Earnest said.

While that appeal is pending, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is halting plans to implement the two programs, said Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.

One of the two actions blocked by Hanen would expand an existing program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which postpones deportation for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children.

The Homeland Security Department had been due to start accepting applications on Wednesday for the expanded program, which Sandoval said would apply to an estimated 270,000 people nationwide.

The existing DACA program applies to people who are younger than 31 years old as of June 15, 2012 and arrived in the United States before June 2007. About 636,000 people have received deferred deportation and a renewable two-year work permit under that program, according to Hanen’s ruling.

Sandoval said the current program, established by an executive order by President Obama in 2012, survived legal challenges.

The now-blocked expansion would lift the age requirement, apply to people who arrived before 2010 and defer deportation for three rather than two years at a time.

The injunction does not affect applications for the existing DACA program, Shamasunder noted.

The second program blocked by Hanen is known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, or DAPA, and was due to begin in May. It would provide deportation protections for an estimated several million people who have lived in the United States for at least five years and are parents of citizens or legal residents.

The judge said the Obama administration failed to follow the requirements of the federal Administrative Procedure Act in setting the new policies.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who led the 26-state lawsuit, said, “This decision is a victory for the rule of law in America and a crucial first step in reining in President Obama’s lawlessness.

“This injunction makes it clear that the President is not a law unto himself, and must work with our elected leaders in Congress and satisfy the courts in a fashion our Founding Fathers envisioned,” Paxton said in a statement.

Twelve other states, including California, and the District of Columbia filed a brief supporting the president’s executive actions.

Gov. Jerry Brown said in a statement, “California stands firmly with the White House. Further delay will not fix our broken immigration system.”

California Attorney General Kamala Harris said, “President Obama has proposed common-sense actions to help address our broken immigration system - using the same executive authority that every president has used in the last five decades.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, stated, “The president’s actions fall well within the clear constitutional and legal authority of his office, and the well-established precedent set by previous presidents, including Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.

“The Department of Justice, legal and immigration experts, and history support the president’s executive actions,” Pelosi said.

(Image via Shutterstock)