California Personal Injury Lawyers Blog
Well, simply put, the court’s decision is nowhere near the last word on the President’s Executive Action.
First, lets talk about how the legal battle against Immigration reform started.
It all started when 26 states, led by Texas, banned together to file a lawsuit challenging President Obama’s Executive Action. The Texas-led coalition of states include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin. The states filed suit in order to stop the immigration reform programs and filed a temporary injunction to put a hold or “stay” on the programs before their lawsuit moved through the courts.
Federal conservative Judge, Andrew S. Hannen, agreed with the 26 states and temporarily blocked the executive action by using a Preliminary Injunction. This means the court put a hold on the start of the program, so that it does not start until the suit has gone through the court system. The Department of Justice then appealed this hold to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, while thousands of people in California continued to prepare for the Executive action programs known as DACA and DAPA.
On Tuesday May 26, 2015, The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of appeals refused to lift the hold or “stay” on Obama’s immigration reform executive action. The Department of Justice announced on Wednesday, May 27, 2015, that it would now prepare and focus on the actual appeal of the injunction to the Appeals Court. The appeal is expected to start in July. According to thehill.com, Justice Department spokesman Patrick Rodenbush stated the following regarding the injunction: “The best way to win the case is to focus on the ongoing appeal on the merits of the preliminary injunction itself. That appeal has been proceeding on an expedited basis, and the 5th Circuit is expected to hear argument the week of July 6.”
A lot of people are confused on how the Justice Department can still make an appeal if the court refused to lift the hold. Well, let us explain. All the appeals court did at this point was refuse to lift the hold. This means, the appeals court refused to let the programs begin before an actual appeal of the preliminary injunction is heard by the court. The Department of Justice still has the chance to appeal the preliminary injunction to the appeals court. This is why the fight for immigration and the executive action is nowhere close to being over!
Many Immigration advocates have announced that they will continue getting immigrants ready to apply for the programs despite the recent court ruling:
- Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, stated the following: “The intent of the legal challenge is to “delay, confuse, and instill fear in our communities. Groups would continue to encourage eligible immigrants to prepare to apply for the programs, but the court case makes that task tougher. If uncertainty continues to surround the program, it may be difficult to convince immigrants to come out of the shadows and hand over their personal information to the government. We acknowledge it will be harder challenge for us to make sure that our communities are well informed.” Click here for source.
However, not all immigration advocates agree:
- David Leopold, the former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, believes that individuals won’t be deterred by the legal timeline because of the benefits for immigrant families. He states that, “This delay is not a welcome delay but I don’t think it’s going to discourage people from applying at all. People who have been living in this country for 10 to 15 years are not about to give up and leave.” Click here for source.
REMEMBER: This Injunction has nothing to do with the previously issued DACA of 2012, now in place! For more information CONTACT US NOW!
Immigration law is at a constant change, this is why it is important that you are properly represented!!! Call us today at 818.222.3400 or 1.866.465.8792.! We are here to help.