The Department of Justice filed a motion Monday for a stay and notice of appeal on a federal judge’s decision to temporarily hold President Obama’s executive action to shield up to 5 million illegal immigrants from deportation.
The motion for a stay was filed with the court of U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville, Texas, according to the Associated Press.
If granted the stay, the White House program to offer additional deportation relief, announced after the November midterm elections, would proceed as planned.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Monday that the stay should be granted so Obama’s immigration action could move forward to “bring accountability to our immigration system.”
Obama’s deportation relief, Earnest said, would “move people out of the shadows” and allow previously illegal immigrants to start paying taxes and submit to background checks to ensure they do not pose a danger to society.
Separately, the Obama administration will file a broader appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans over U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen’s ruling halting Obama’s unilateral action. The Constitutional showdown could quickly move to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The stay would allow the implementation of the immigration program until the panel of judges makes a final ruling on the Justice Department’s appeal. Typically, such a ruling would take a few weeks but could be expedited since the program was slated to go into effect.
In the request for a stay, the Obama administration asked that the injunction be limited to Texas, should the court determine to keep it in place.
Last week Judge Hanen based his decision to grant an injunction after he determined that Texas met the legal requirements because the state would incur costs for processing driver’s licenses for individuals applying for the first time.
Earnest said the Justice Department made that decision to allow an exemption for Texas in order to expedite a legal decision as quickly as possible.
He also noted that the Justice Department and 12 other states and the District of Columbia filed briefs claiming they would benefit from Obama’s executive action and they would be harmed to Texas pushes its case to a trial phase.
This story was first published on Feb. 20 at 01:56 p.m. and has been updated.
