Federal Judge Rules that ICE Agents have Standing in Lawsuit Against Federal Governme
Federal Judge Rules that ICE Agents have Standing in Lawsuit Against Federal Government
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This is a major first step for the ICE agents in their case against the administration.
NumbersUSA.com
By Anne Manetas, Friday, January 25, 2013, 3:14 PM EST
Federal District Court Judge Reed O'Conner has ruled that 10 ICE agents and officers have standing to challenge in Federal court the so-called Morton Memo on prosecutorial discretion and the DREAM directive on deferred action. The agents filed their complaint in October, charging that unconstitutional and illegal directives from DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and ICE Director John Morton order the agents to violate federal laws or face adverse employment actions. This is a major first step for the ICE agents in their case against the administration.
In his 35-page decision, Judge O'Conner found that the ICE agents and officers have standing, but that the State of Mississippi does not. He has not yet ruled, however, on the agents' motion for a preliminary injunction to halt implementation of the DHS directives.
The primary impetus for the lawsuit came last June, when Secretary Napolitano issued a memo offering deferred action and employment authorization to illegal aliens under age 31 who meet certain criteria similar to those outlined in the DREAM Act, which has failed to pass Congress on three occasions.
Even before that, though, ICE Director Morton essentially gutted immigration enforcement by issuing a memo on prosecutorial discretion that, in effect, prohibits ICE agents and officers from arresting or removing any but the most violent criminal aliens.
Under Morton's stated policy, most of the 12 million or so illegal aliens that the administration wants to legalize are currently safe from deportation.
This is just one of the reasons that the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council voted unanimously that they have no confidence in Morton's ability to lead the agency. Aside from ordering ICE agents to not enforce federal immigration laws, Morton has also gutted worksite enforcement and the 287(g) program, which is a cooperative effort between local law enforcement and federal immigration agents.
Read Judge O'Conner's full decision here.
source: https://www.numbersusa.com/content/n...gainst-federal
Dallas federal judge grants hearing on national program challenging deportation suspe
Dallas federal judge grants hearing on national program challenging deportation suspensions
January 25, 2013
By Dianne Solis
The Dallas Morning News
A federal judge in Dallas has granted a hearing on an injunction to stop deportation suspensions under an initiative of the Obama administration for certain illegal immigrants between the ages of 16 and 31 years of age.
Plaintiffs, arguing the policy is illegal, include David A. Engle, a Dallas deportation officer with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other ICE agents in Texas and other states. The defendants are suing their boss, Janet Napolitano, the head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
A hearing date has yet to be set.
The Obama initiative was announced June 15, 2012 as a form of “prosecutorial discretion” that didn’t need legislation from Congress. Already about 154,000 immigrants have been granted approvals, that include processing for a two-year work permit. The program doesn’t provide legal immigration status such as a green card.
In his opinion Judge Reed O’Connor said “the potential disciplinary action that results from failing to comply ” constitutes a “sufficient injury-in-fact.”
Kris Kobach, the ICE agent’s co-counsel and also Kansas secretary of state, “The defendants wanted to make the case go away by saying the plaintiffs have no standing,” Kobach said. “Now the plaintiffs will have a chance to say why the directive is unlawful.”
The judge dismissed the ICE agents challenge on issuance of work permits saying they didn’t allege a “sufficient injury” to have standing. The judge also dismissed the state of Mississippi from the suit.
The lead plaintiff is Chris Crane is an ICE deportation officer in Utah, according to the court filings.
Friday, a spokesman from Homeland Security couldn’t be reached for comment. But Homeland Security attorneys had argued for dismissal of the agents case.
Dallas federal judge grants hearing on national program challenging deportation suspensions | The Scoop Blog
