The political water under the immigration issue keeps tossing and turning to the point that it’s making me queasy.
The latest wave to crash against the immigration vessel came from the Southern Federal Judicial District of Texas andĀ U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, who late Sunday said President Obama’s executive action delaying deportation of illegal immigrants violated the federal Administrative Procedure Act, which governs the way federal regulations are set up and how much public input is delivered.
http://www.texastribune.org/2015/02/16/executive-action-immigration-ruling/
The Obama administration plans to appeal, most likely to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and state Attorney General Ken Paxton hailed theĀ judge’s ruling, saying it validates their contention that the feds reached beyond their grasp in delaying the deportation of illegal immigrants, about 1.46 million of whom live in Texas.
“President Obama abdicated his responsibility to uphold the United States Constitution when he attempted to circumvent the laws passed by Congress via executive fiat,” Abbott said in a statement, “and Judge Hanenās decision rightly stops the Presidentās overreach in its tracks.”
Paxton agrees with the governor. “This decision is a victory for the rule of law in America and a crucial first step in reining in President Obama’s lawlessness,” he said in a statement.Ā “This injunction makes it clear that the President is not a law unto himself, and must work with our elected leaders in Congress and satisfy the courts in a fashion our Founding Fathers envisioned.ā
Did politics play a part in this federal judge’s decision? Judge Hanen was appointed by President George W. Bush and already is on record as suggesting the Department of Homeland Security was breaking immigration law by allowing undocumented immigrant children to be reunited with their parents rather than deporting or arresting them, according to the Texas Tribune.
Let’s wait, then, for progressives to bemoan the actions of an “unelected activist judge” who places himself above the law. I’m betting we won’t hearĀ such an argument coming from that side of the aisle.
Something tells me the U.S. Supreme Court is likely to get this one.
In the meantime, pass the Dramamine.