Issued March 13, 2015
WASHINGTON, DC - Yesterday, the Department of Justice took a critical step forward as it filed a request with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to allow the deferred action initiatives - expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) - to go forward during the appeal of a Texas judge's order that temporarily stopped the president's immigration action (Texas v. U.S.). The DOJ asked the court of appeals to make a decision on this request within 14 days (by March 26th).
This bold move was further strengthened as attorney generals representing 14 states and Washington, DC, including state of Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, filed an amicus brief in support of the immigration action and the federal government's emergency request.
Rocio Saenz, the International Executive Vice President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), issued the following response:
We commend President Obama and his administration for continuing to defend the immigration action in the face of opponents who are deluded by partisan politics and refuse to support families and greater economic opportunities for America.
"With 14 states and Washington, DC demonstrating the courage to stand with families and a stronger America, we are confident that the president's immigration action will prevail in the courts.
"We encourage families to continue preparing for the deferred action initiatives and not allow this temporary bump in the road to stifle their hope and readiness. Make no mistake, the immigration action lives in the right side of history."
What Just Happened: DOJ calls on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to lift the injunction against DAPA and DACA while the appeal process moves against Texas Judge Hanen's order to temporarily stop the president's immigration action.
The Justice Department asked the court of appeals to make a decision within 14 days, which means they have until March 26.
Background/Timeline:
* On February 16, Judge Hanen granted Texas' motion for an injunction to temporarily stop implementation of expanded DACA and DAPA.
* On February 23, DOJ filed an appeal of the injunction. That same day, DOJ also filed a motion to stay or stop the injunction from going into effect while the appeal was pending. Because the rules required that the stay request first be filed in the district court before it could be filed in the court of appeals, the stay request was filed with Judge Hanen.
* Not surprisingly, Judge Hanen refused to rule on the stay on March 9 and said he would not do so until after the hearing on March 19 in Brownsville, Texas.
* On March 19, the court in Texas will hold a hearing on the plaintiff states' motion for early discovery. Stay tuned.
* March 12, the DOJ filed the stay request with the court of appeals and 14 states and Washington, DC filed a friend of the court brief in favor of the immigration action and in support of the DOJ's emergency request.
Highlights of the DOJ's Stay Request:
"Texas's claims of financial harm also ignore the prospect that deferred action and work authorization will lead to increased state tax revenues...."
"The district court's order is unprecedented and wrong. The Constitution does not entitle States to intrude into the uniquely federal domain of immigration enforcement. Yet the district court has taken the extraordinary step of allowing a State to override the United States' exercise of its enforcement discretion in the immigration laws."
14 States and Washington, DC File Amicus Brief in Support of Immigration Action and DOJ Stay: The friend-of-the-court brief was written by Washington's attorney general Bob Ferguson and joined by fourteen other attorney generals.
Highlights of the brief and List of States that signed on to brief:
"A single state cannot dictate national immigration policy, yet that is what the district court allowed here. Relying entirely on Texas's speculative claims, the district court enjoined vital immigration reforms nationwide. Those reforms will benefit millions of people and their families, as well as the states in which they reside."
"In Washington State, for example, approximately 105,000 people are likely to be eligible for deferred immigration action. Moving these people out of the shadows and into the legal workforce is estimated to increase Washington's tax revenues by 57 million over the next five years. California's tax revenues are estimated to grow by $904 million over the next five years, with an anticipated 1,214,000 people eligible for deferred immigration action."
For more information about the amicus brief, please contact the Washington Attorney General Office's Communication Director Peter Lavelle at 360-586-0725.
* Washington
* California
* Connecticut
* Delaware
* Hawaii
* Illinois
* Iowa
* Maryland
* Massachusetts
* New Mexico
* New York
* Oregon
* Rhode Island
* Vermont
* Washington, DC