A federal court has halted President Obama's plan to protect an estimated 5 million illegal immigrants from being deported.
On Monday, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled against President Obama’s plan to allow over 5 million illegal immigrants to stay in the country and not face deportation. It was another setback for the president and his administration’s plan to re-write immigration law. It will likely reach the Supreme Court in their next session.
The court ruled 2-1 to support the previous ruling of a lower court which effectively forbids the president from taking action regarding his deferred action program to allow 5 million undocumented people remain in the country somehow, according to The Washington Post.
Republicans have stood firmly against the plan and more than half the states challenged Obama’s executive action in court. The plan was announced last November and declared via executive action but it looks unlikely that the plan will ever see the light of day while Obama is still president. Supporters of the president’s initiative have spoken with full confidence that the Supreme Court will rule in their favor come next year. Supporters know that a favorable ruling by the Supreme Court will make it almost impossible to eliminate the potential program.
There are an estimated 11 million immigrants in the United States living and working here illegally. Last year, the Republican’s stopped a comprehensive proposal that would have allowed these immigrants to remain in the country and not be deported. Under the proposal, immigrants who entered illegally as children would be allowed to stay. Also, the illegal immigrant parents of a U.S. citizen would be allowed to stay and apply for a work permit that would last for three years.
When it was announced, 26 states announced that they would sue in open court to block the measure. The states claimed undue financial burdens as well as Obama not following certain federal laws and requirements. The measure was just days away from being implemented by Homeland Security when a court in Texas declared, in February, that the program was to be halted while the constitutionality of it went under a judicial review.
