The roller coaster ride continues for those of us closely watching the court battle over the immigration remedy President Obama announced last November – Deferred Action for Parents (DAPA) and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The action is taking place right now in two different courtrooms – in the courtroom of Federal District Judge Hanen in Brownsville, Texas, and at a higher court, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
Brownsville
Judge Hanen shows no signs of easing up on the injunction he ordered against the beginning of DAPA and expanded DACA. In fact, in his April 7th opinion declining to lift his February injunction, he sounds indignant with the lawyers representing the Obama administration’s Department of Justice. He took issue with the immigration service issuing three-year work permits to 2012 DACA recipients before the injunction took effect.
Oral arguments at the 5th Circuit regarding U.S. v. Texas
A three-judge panel at the 5th Circuit heard oral arguments about the appeal of Judge Hanen’s injunction on Friday, April 17, 2015. Click here for a summary of the arguments and the judges’ reactions, or here to listen to the hearing yourself.
Crane v. U.S. decision at the 5th Circuit on April 7, 2015, bodes well for Deferred Action
The same court (but different panel) deliberating the appeal of Judge Hanen’s injunction made a decision on April 7, 2015, that may shed light on how it will rule on the Texas case. In Crane, some disappointed ICE officers and the state of Mississippi sued the federal government about the original 2012 DACA program, the one that has not been affected by the Texas litigation. Mississippi made many of the same arguments as Texas, saying the states will shoulder an increased burden if deferred action is widened. The court recognized that DACA might instead result in “reduction in the fiscal burden on the state.” Indeed, economists are in agreement that immigration is good for the U.S. job market overall. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals also held that the ICE officers’ claim they would experience workplace sanctions for failing to comply with the DACA directive was meritless. The court acknowledged the discretion entrusted to to each officer to “deal with each [noncitizen] on a case by case basis.”
What’s Next?
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals will issue a decision on the appeal at some point, although we are not sure when. We will post here with more information in the coming weeks and months.