Federal judge halts Obama’s immigration executive order

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced late Monday night that U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen has ruled to halt an executive order by President Barack Obama that would grant relief to millions of unauthorized immigrants in the country.

Hanen’s court in Brownsville did not immediately release a statement on its ruling, which cites a failure of the Obama administration to comply with the Administrative Procedure Act, a 1946 law over how the federal government establishes regulations. Texas and 25 other states had challenged the executive action.

The court’s injunction prevents all applicable agencies from implanting any expansions to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the ruling states. The extended program, known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents, aimed to protect about 5 million unauthorized immigrants from deportation and allowed them to work legally in the country. Obama had said it would not constitute a path to citizenship.

At 10:21 p.m. the following message was posted on Abbott’s official Twitter account, “BREAKING: Federal Judge just granted my request to halt Obama’s Executive Amnesty Order Nationwide. More later.”

And at 10:43 p.m., Abbott released a statement declaring: “President Obama abdicated his responsibility to uphold the United States Constitution when he attempted to circumvent the laws passed by Congress via executive fiat, and Judge Hanen’s decision rightly stops the president’s overreach in its tracks. We live in a nation governed by a system of checks and balances, and the President’s attempt to by-pass the will of the American people was successfully checked today. The District Court’s ruling is very clear — it prevents the president from implementing the policies in 'any and all aspects.'”

Abbott filed suit against Obama’s executive order in early December with the state of Texas as the lead plaintiff among 17 states that sued over the order.

He has said the order was less about changing immigrant policies and more about an abuse of power by the executive branch.

Obama’s executive order also ended the Secure Communities program, a controversial program that empowered local authorities to detain undocumented immigrants for non-violent offenses.

Attorneys for the federal government will probably file an appeal.

Abbott is certain to address the order today in his first “State of the State” address, to be delivered at 11 a.m.

Staff writer John Gravois contributed to this report, which contains material from the Austin American-Statesman and The Texas Tribune.

This story was originally published February 16, 2015 at 11:20 PM with the headline "Federal judge halts Obama’s immigration executive order."