The Department of Justice will not ask the Supreme Court to lift an order blocking President Obama’s executive action on immigration, and instead, it will focus on appealing that order in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
The Fifth Circuit of Appeals ruled 2-1 Tuesday against lifting the hold put forth by a Texas federal judge to block Obama’s immigration executive action. That decision means Obama can’t implement his action, aimed at sparing millions of illegal immigrants from deportation and allowing them to work, while the Fifth Circuit hears the appeal.
The administration could have asked the Supreme Court to review this decision, but has decided it won’t.
“The department believes the best way to achieve this goal is to focus on the ongoing appeal on the merits of the preliminary injunction itself,” Patrick Rodenbush, a spokesman for the Justice Department, said Wednesday. “Although the department continues to disagree with the Fifth Circuit’s refusal to stay the district court’s preliminary injunction, the department has determined that it will not seek a stay from the Supreme Court.”
The Fifth Circuit decided that keeping the injunction in place made the most sense, in part because it will help avoid a situation in which some illegal immigrants benefit from the policy, only to have the courts strike it down.
Obama’s executive action has been on hold for months. The Obama administration will use oral arguments set to begin the week of July 6 before the Fifth Circuit to persuade the judges to lift the hold.
Texas and 25 other states are challenging Obama’s action in court, and say it goes too far by not only treating millions of illegal immigrants as a low priority for deportation, but by affirmatively giving them a legal status that lets them work.
