President Obama cited both history and the law as being on his side Tuesday as he criticized a federal judge’s ruling that temporarily halts his executive action which spares 5 million illegal immigrants from deportation.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, the president said, “I disagree with the Texas judge’s ruling. The Justice Department will appeal. This is not the first time where a lower court judge has blocked something … that was shown to be lawful.”
U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen in a ruling late Monday effectively put Obama’s latest immigration action on hold, saying the president’s unilateral action should not go forward until a lawsuit filed by Republican attorneys general is heard. The Obama administration already announced that it would not accept certain applications for deportation relief on Wednesday, as scheduled.
The president remained defiant Tuesday in the face of the judicial setback. “I disagree with [the judge’s ruling]. I think the law is on our side. And history is on our side,” he said.
“We will be prepared to implement this fully as soon as the legal issues get resolved,” the president insisted.
The White House on Wednesday was planning to formally expand a program offering deportation relief to illegal immigrants brought to the United States as children.
Obama and his supporters will now have to wait for the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans to weigh in on the matter.
The Texas judge’s ruling could imperil Obama’s efforts to convince illegal immigrants eligible for the deportation deferrals to sign up for the programs. The administration has faced doubts about the permanence of the executive action, since either the courts or a future president could overturn it.
Obama used the episode to hit Republicans on the issues both of immigration and funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which is set to expire Feb. 28.
“With a new Congress, my hope had been that they now get serious about solving the problem,” he said of the nation’s immigration system. “Certainly, they need to start funding the Department of Homeland Security.”
Republicans, who have tied DHS funding to the funding of Obama’s executive action, counter that the federal court ruling only strengthens their contention that Obama overstepped his constitutional authority in granting deportation relief to millions of illegal immigrants without obtaining congressional approval.
