TWO VIEWS
“The Department of Justice, legal scholars, immigration experts, and the district court in Washington, D.C. have determined that the President’s actions are well within his legal authority.”
— White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest
“Pres. Obama said at least 22 times he didn’t have the authority to do what he did on #immigration. No surprise at least one court agrees.”
— House Speaker John Boehner in a tweet
The Obama administration put its new deportation-relief program on hold Tuesday, the eve of its launch, complying reluctantly with a federal judge’s order that roiled immigrant communities nationwide and seemed to harden an already tense stalemate on Capitol Hill.
President Barack Obama promised an appeal and predicted he would prevail. But tens of thousands of immigrants in line to begin applying today for work permits and deportation stays under his directives had to put their plans on hold.
Talking to reporters in the Oval Office, Obama said he disagreed with the ruling by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen of Texas that the administration had exceeded its authority. But he said that, for now, he must abide by it.
“We’re not going to disregard this federal court ruling,” Obama said, but he added that administration officials would continue to prepare to roll out the program.
“I think the law is on our side and history is on our side,” he said.
On Capitol Hill, where funding for the Homeland Security Department — set to expire Feb. 27 — is caught up in a standoff over Obama’s program, Hanen’s ruling made a compromise appear more distant than ever. Republicans are blocking funding for the agency unless Democrats agree to cancel Obama’s immigration orders, and they seized on the ruling as validation for their position.
“Congress must reassert its waning power. We must re-establish the constitutional principle that the people’s representatives control the purse,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, a leading opponent of illegal immigration.
Yet Senate Democrats, who have been blocking a House-passed bill that would fund the department but also undo Obama’s actions, said Hanen’s ruling would do nothing to budge them.
“Democrats remain united in our belief that funding for the Department of Homeland Security should not be used as a ransom by Republicans, period,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York.
With Congress currently on recess, lawmakers will have only a few days to reach an agreement once they return to Washington next week. One possibility is a short-term extension of current funding levels, but House Speaker John Boehner said over the weekend that the House had done its job and he would “certainly” let a shutdown occur if the Senate doesn’t act.
If the political impasse seemed severe, so were the implications for millions of immigrants in the country illegally.
“We feel powerless but not defeated, sure that it will all work out,” 46-year-old Claudia Ramon, a native of Colombia, said at a rally in Houston, one of dozens nationwide where immigrants and their advocates vowed to continue with preparations under Obama’s programs.
Obama’s directives would make more than 4 million immigrants who are in the United States illegally eligible for three-year deportation stays and work permits. Most of those who would qualify have been in the country for more than five years and have children who are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.
The first phase was to begin today, when as many as 300,000 immigrants brought illegally to the country as children could begin applying for an expansion of Obama’s 2012 program aimed at the younger immigrants known as Dreamers.
Advocates pledged to redouble their efforts to sign up as many people as possible.
“It’s extremely important for the community to understand from a legal perspective it is on solid legal footing and actually the larger numbers of people who come forward to apply, the more likely we can protect the expansion,” said Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center.
Hanen’s ruling late Monday night, in a case brought by 26 states led by Texas, said Obama and his Homeland Security Department lacked the authority to take the actions they did.
“No statute gives the DHS the discretion it is trying to exercise here,” wrote Hanen.
The Obama administration could seek a stay of Hanen’s order in addition to appealing to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday that the Justice Department was deciding its next move.
“I’ve always expected that this is a matter that will ultimately be decided by a higher court — if not the Supreme Court then a federal court of appeals,” he said.
The drama played out with the 2016 presidential contest getting underway and potential candidates from both parties eager to win over Latino voters. One Republican, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, weighed in with a post to his Facebook page declaring that Obama had overstepped his authority and “hurt the effort toward a commonsense immigration solution.”
“Now, more than ever, we need President Obama to work with Congress to secure the border and fix our broken immigration system,” Bush wrote.
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