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Obama's Immigration Orders Head to Federal Court in New Orleans
Thursday, April 16, 2015 07:58 PM
By: Jason Devaney
A federal appeals court is slated to hear oral arguments Friday in a case to remove an order that halts President Barack Obama's executive actions on immigration.
The arguments between federal government lawyers and attorneys from more than two dozen states that disagree with Obama's immigration actions will take place in New Orleans in front of three judges from the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, according to The Hill.
That court is one of the most conservative in the nation, and the random selection for judges to serve on the panel resulted in two conservatives and one liberal being chosen.
At issue are Obama's executive actions taken last fall that would grant amnesty to as many as 5 million illegal immigrants currently living in the U.S. In February, a federal judge in Texas issued a ruling that temporarily blocked the administration's measure.
The administration wants the immigration orders put into action, and now it's looking for the Texas judge's ruling to be lifted by the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
The panel features conservative judges appointed by President Ronald Reagan and President George W. Bush. The other judge is an Obama appointee.
The conservatives on the panel, Judges Jerry Smith and Jennifer Walker Elrod, have ruled against the Obama administration in the past in cases concerning the Affordable Care Act and immigration.
The president has "recklessly acted outside of the boundaries of the U.S. Constitution, circumventing Congress to rewrite the law as he sees fit," Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Tuesday, reports The Hill.
Republicans have accused the president of executive overreach and granting amnesty to lawbreakers while immigrant rights advocates have lauded the measure.
Hundreds of pro-immigrant advocates are expected to rally in front of the court in New Orleans today.
Success is not assured. On April 7, the Fifth Circuit ruled that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and the state of Mississippi lacked standing to sue over a separate immigration action issued by Obama in 2012 allowing immigrants brought to the United States as children to stay.
That decision may signal that the three-judge panel hearing arguments on Friday could be inclined to temporarily lift Hanen's injunction, some observers said, which would let the administration proceed with implementing the president's landmark immigration action.
In its published opinion, the court said it was "purely speculative" that Mississippi had sustained fiscal injury as a result of the 2012 action.
The 26 states that sued over Obama's November 2014 action made claims like those in Mississippi's case.
Still, it is unclear whether the administration will prevail in the Fifth Circuit, considered one of the most conservative courts in the country.
The Fifth Circuit is due to hear a full appeal later this year to permanently undo Hanen's decision in a case that could ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
A Los Angeles Times story further breaks down the case, identifying the lawyers leading each side's case in Friday's arguments.
Benjamin C. Mizer, the acting assistant U.S. attorney general for the Justice Department's Civil Division, will present that side's arguments.
The 26 states fighting the administration's actions will be led by Texas Solicitor General Scott Keller.
The judges hearing Friday's arguments could take days or even weeks to announce their decision.
A report earlier this week, meanwhile, claimed legal immigrants living in the U.S. will outnumber the total combined populations of seven major U.S. cities.
