Thread: DHS Secretary: 'We must comply' with immigration ruling

DHS Secretary: 'We must comply' with immigration ruling

Gregory Korte and David Jackson, USA TODAY1:42 p.m. EST February 17, 2015


(Photo: Yvette Vela, AP)

President Obama meets with a group of "DREAMers" in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 4, 2015. (Photo: Evan Vucci, AP)

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will not accept applications for legal status from undocumented immigrants on Wednesday after a federal judge in Texas blocked implementation of President Obama's policy deferring the deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said the administration would appeal the court ruling. "in the meantime, we recognize we must comply with it," he said.

U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen's ruling late Monday came just as one of those executive actions was set to take effect Wednesday. That's the day an estimated 300,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the United States before age 16 — and who have lived in the United States since 2010 — were eligible to apply for legal status. Another 4 million or more who came to the United States as adults would become eligible in May.

Hanen issued a preliminary injunction blocking those programs, which were part of a series of executive actions on immigration President Obama announced last November.

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In a 123-page opinion handed down late Monday, Hanen ruled that the Department of Homeland Security took an illegal shortcut by failing to allow public comment on the new policies. Despite the public perception that Obama made the policy change through executive order, Hanen said, responsibility actually falls to Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson — and he has to follow the notice-and-comment rulemaking process in the Administrative Procedure Act.

The White House immediately said that the Justice Department would file an appeal, which would go to the 5th 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," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in a middle-of-the-night statement.

Justice Department officials did not respond to requests for comment. Federal government offices in Washington were closed Tuesday because of snow.

The judge's ruling did not address the merits of the immigration policy or Obama's right to change how immigration laws are enforced without congressional action. Rather, it preserves the current system while both sides in the lawsuit argue the case.
"Despite the anti-immigrant rhetoric in the judge's 123-page opinion, the temporary injunction itself is narrow," said Stephen Yale-Loehr, a Cornell University law professor. He said the administration is likely to prevail on the merits because federal courts have often given the president broad authority to shape the enforcement and implementation of immigration laws.

The state of Texas filed suit in December on behalf of Texas and 26 other states opposed to the Obama's executive action.

"We live in a nation governed by a system of checks and balances, and the President's attempt to by-pass the will of the American people was successfully checked today," said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in a statement. He filed the lawsuit when he was state attorney general.

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Abbott said Obama has "abdicated his responsibility ... when he attempted to circumvent the laws passed by Congress via executive fiat, and Judge Hanen's decision rightly stops the president's overreach in its tracks."

Abbott and 25 other state attorneys general argue that Obama's immigration actions violated the "take care" clause of the Constitution, which states that "he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed."

Texas has standing to bring the lawsuit, the judge ruled, because the federal action would make thousands of newly legalized immigrants eligible for Texas driver's licenses. The state charges $24 per license, but they cost nearly $200 for the state to process — in part because of federal mandates under the REAL ID Act of 2005.

"If the preliminary injunction is denied, plaintiffs will bear the costs of issuing licenses and other benefits once DAPA beneficiaries — armed with Social Security cards and employment authorization documents — seek those benefits," Hanen wrote. "Once these services are provided, there will be no effective way of putting the toothpaste back in the tube should plaintiffs ultimately prevail on the merits."

The injunction applies to a program known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents, or DAPA. The program allowed undocumented parents of lawful U.S. citizens or permanent residents to defer deportation and seek job benefits.

The judge made clear that his ruling does not apply to the original Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, which has granted legal status to the almost 700,000 teenagers and young adults born outside the United States since 2012.

Hanen, a district judge sitting in Brownsville, Texas, was nominated by President George W. Bush in 2002.

The ruling comes as Congress debates how to extend funding authority for the Department of Homeland Security. House Republicans have passed a bill that funds the department through September but blocks funding to enforce any of Obama's executive actions. Senate Democrats have threatened a filibuster, and the White House has threatened a veto.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...onse/23553173/

Statement by Secretary Jeh C. Johnson Concerning the District Court's Ruling Concerning DAPA and DACA

Release Date:
February 17, 2015

For Immediate Release
DHS Press Office
Contact: 202-282-8010

I strongly disagree with Judge Hanen’s decision to temporarily enjoin implementation of Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The Department of Justice will appeal that temporary injunction; in the meantime, we recognize we must comply with it.

Accordingly, the Department of Homeland Security will not begin accepting requests for the expansion of DACA tomorrow, February 18, as originally planned. Until further notice, we will also suspend the plan to accept requests for DAPA.

The Department of Justice, legal scholars, immigration experts and even other courts have said that our actions are well within our legal authority. Our actions will also benefit the economy and promote law enforcement. We fully expect to ultimately prevail in the courts, and we will be prepared to implement DAPA and expanded DACA once we do.

It is important to emphasize what the District Court’s order does not affect.

The Court’s order does not affect the existing DACA.

Individuals may continue to come forward and request initial grant of DACA or renewal of DACA pursuant to the guidelines established in 2012.

Nor does the Court’s order affect this Department’s ability to set and implement enforcement priorities. The priorities established in my November 20, 2014 memorandum entitled “Policies for the Apprehension, Detention and Removal of Undocumented Immigrants” remain in full force and effect.

Pursuant to those enforcement priorities, we continue to prioritize public safety, national security, and border security. I am pleased that an increasing percentage of removals each year are of those convicted of crimes. I am also pleased that, due in large part to our investments in and prioritization of border security, apprehensions at the southern border – a large indicator of total attempts to cross the border illegally -- are now at the lowest levels in years.

For more information, visit www.dhs.gov.

###

Review Date: February 17, 2015

http://www.dhs.gov/news/2015/02/17/s...oncerning-dapa

http://www.alipac.us/f12/white-house...-moves-317664/

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Statement by Secretary Jeh C. Johnson Concerning the District Court's Ruling Concerning DAPA and DACA

Release Date:
February 17, 2015

For Immediate Release
DHS Press Office
Contact: 202-282-8010

I strongly disagree with Judge Hanen’s decision to temporarily enjoin implementation of Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The Department of Justice will appeal that temporary injunction; in the meantime, we recognize we must comply with it.

Accordingly, the Department of Homeland Security will not begin accepting requests for the expansion of DACA tomorrow, February 18, as originally planned. Until further notice, we will also suspend the plan to accept requests for DAPA.

The Department of Justice, legal scholars, immigration experts and even other courts have said that our actions are well within our legal authority. Our actions will also benefit the economy and promote law enforcement. We fully expect to ultimately prevail in the courts, and we will be prepared to implement DAPA and expanded DACA once we do.

It is important to emphasize what the District Court’s order does not affect.

The Court’s order does not affect the existing DACA.

Individuals may continue to come forward and request initial grant of DACA or renewal of DACA pursuant to the guidelines established in 2012.

Nor does the Court’s order affect this Department’s ability to set and implement enforcement priorities. The priorities established in my November 20, 2014 memorandum entitled “Policies for the Apprehension, Detention and Removal of Undocumented Immigrants” remain in full force and effect.

Pursuant to those enforcement priorities, we continue to prioritize public safety, national security, and border security. I am pleased that an increasing percentage of removals each year are of those convicted of crimes. I am also pleased that, due in large part to our investments in and prioritization of border security, apprehensions at the southern border – a large indicator of total attempts to cross the border illegally -- are now at the lowest levels in years.
For more information, visit www.dhs.gov.

###

Review Date: February 17, 2015

http://www.dhs.gov/news/2015/02/17/s...oncerning-dapa

Yes, Yes, we know that you will continue your expensive efforts not enforcing US immigration law and will continue wasting the lives of Americans by handing out work authorizations and public benefits to illegal aliens in every nook and corner not covered by the ruling, which is why we're going to defund your whole Department.

If I were in charge of the Coast Guard, Secret Service and Border Patrol, I would be over at our Capitol pounding the halls asking for an agency transfer to another Department, which I for one would totally support. Coast Guard needs to go back to the US Department of Transportation, Border Patrol needs to go back to the US Department of Labor, and the Secret Service needs to go back to the US Treasury Department.

And I wouldn't waste a minute, I'd scurry right on over there first thing tomorrow morning.