14 States Argue In Support Of Obama’s Executive Amnesty

Fourteen largely blue states are calling on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a lower court’s ruling and allow President Obama’s executive amnesty to go forward.

In an amicus brief in support of the Obama administration, the state reiterates the Justice Department’s call to the appeals court that it overturn District Judge Andrew Hanen’s preliminary injunction, which halted the new immigration programs last month.

The Obama administration appealed Hanen’s ruling to the higher court on Thursday. The fourteen states joining the administration in its call are: California, Washington, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.

In their brief, the states argue that executive amnesty is in the public interest. It further argues that if the court does not lift the injunction nationwide, then it should consider applying it just to Texas — the state leading the 26 states that initially challenged Obama’s executive actions.

“With over one million hard-working Californians eligible for deferred action, our State has a major stake in the successful implementation of the President’s immigration actions,” said California Attorney General Kamala Harris.

Thursday Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton pushed back against the administration’s appeal, reiterating that the states challenging Obama’s executive amnesty believe it to be unconstitutional. He added that a major issue currently at hand is that the administration has jumped the gun on the implementation of an aspect of the new programs.

“The most pressing issue at hand is the extent to which the Obama Administration has already issued expanded work permits to illegal immigrants, in direct contradiction to what they told the district court,” Paxton said. “Further, as the court noted in granting a preliminary injunction, any implementation of President Obama’s directives will be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse.

Other states joining Texas in challenging the executive actions 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, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin.