Obama’s Immigration Reforms Stuck In Courts: Illegal Immigrants Hoping for Favourable Verdict From Appeal Court

President Barack Obama’s immigration reforms continue to be stuck in courts. After the Texas court stayed Mr Obama’s executive order promulgated in November 2014, the government’s effort to vacate the stay failed in the first week of April. Now all eyes are on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, where a large number of pro and anti immigration arguments are to be heard and also verify the validity of Texas Federal Judge Andrew Hanen’s injunction against the President’s executive action.

For the migrants, there is hope in the appeal court. Arguments have been reportedly sent to the court in advance of the court’s scheduled oral argument session that will begin on April 17 in New Orleans to determine if Hanen’s injunction should remain in place. Those opposing Mr Obama’s reform, including Republicans, claim that immigrants are bad for the U.S. economy. But, a recent study conducted by the Partnership for a New American Economy said in Wisconsin alone, immigrants are playing the role of a motivating force and are aiding job creation as immigrant entrepreneurs are making impact by starting more than 10,000 businesses. The report also highlighted the economic contribution of immigrants and said immigrant-owned businesses brought in nearly $600 millions in business income between 2006 and 2010.

On April 7, Obama's executive action on immigration went into more legal jostling with a federal judge refusing to vacate the stay on it. The White House said the federal judge has “wrongly continued to prevent those lawful, common-sense policies from taking effect.” The President's Immigration actions including the Executive Order has been questioned by a coalition of 26 states led by Texas.

Executive Action

The president’s executive action was announced in November 2014, aimed at expanding the pool of people eligible to receive legal cover on immigration by including the parents of U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents. But the U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen of Brownsville refused to lift the stay on government’s plan to implement Mr Obama’s program even while keeping broader issues under litigation. The court action has disappointed 5 million immigrants in the U.S. Mr Obama’s order also sought amendments s in the period of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program by increasing the span from two years to three years to help the Dreamers.

Judge Hanen in his order refused to lift his injunction halting the administration’s programs and also looked at the federal government’s “misleading statements.” However, the legal stone walling also had takers. “The administration’s request had no legal grounds and proves that we are dealing with a president that disregards the rule of law and the system of checks and balances that are key to the Constitution,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement.

Locus Standi Questioned

The way out in the upcoming appeal court process has been cited by Anne Joseph O’Connell, a UC Berkeley law professor, who said the 5th Circuit need to address the issue whether Texas and the other states really had the locus standi to file a suit against the federal government. She cited the recent Mississippi case as a precedent.

“That’s the best chance with a conservative panel for President Obama and the Department of Homeland Security to go forward” with DAPA and the DACA extension, she said. The Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents, or DAPA was aimed at bringing relief to more than 4 million people who have lived in the United States for at least five years and are the parents of U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents. It also offers three-year work permits for eligible parents.

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