Administration accuses judge of scaring illegals away from signing up for Obama’s amnesty
By Andrea Noble and Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times - Updated: 7:50 p.m. on Tuesday, May 31, 2016
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/may/31/judge-andrew-hanen-scaring-illegals-away-from-obam/The Obama administration accused a federal judge Tuesday of sowing “fear and confusion” among illegal immigrants, potentially scaring them away from signing up for President Obama’s deportation amnesty by demanding immigration officials submit names of tens of thousands of migrants who’ve already enrolled.
Justice Department lawyers also asked Judge Andrew S. Hanen not to force thousands of attorneys to take remedial ethics classes — an order the judge issued two weeks ago after he concluded that the administration intentionally and repeatedly misled him by implementing part of the amnesty, even as they assured the court it wasn’t in operation yet.
“The sanctions ordered by the court far exceed the bounds of appropriate remedies for what this court concluded were intentional misrepresentations, a conclusion that was reached without proper procedural protections and that lacks sufficient evidentiary support,” the Justice Department lawyers wrote in asking for a stay.
Judge Hanen scheduled a hearing for June 7 to let the Justice Department make its case, in what’s become a nasty court battle between himself and the administration. They’ve been at odds since soon after Mr. Obama announced his expanded amnesty for illegal immigrant parents in November 2014.
Judge Hanen has ruled the amnesty illegal, and issued an injunction in February 2015. But the administration repeatedly broke that order, approving thousands of three-year work permits after the fact. Lawyers admitted that more than 100,000 applications for three-year permits were approved between February and March, despite lawyers telling the judge no part of the amnesty was in operation.
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