Immigration Reform News 2014: Sen. Cruz and Cornyn File Brief In Multistate Lawsuit Against Obama's Executive Action On Immigration
The Texas federal judge presiding over the multistate lawsuit which claims President Obama's executive action on immigration reform violated the U.S. constitution has allowed U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz to file court briefs, along with others in support of the lawsuit.
Sen. Cornyn said in a released statement on Nov. 20, the day of President Obama's announcement on immigration on reform, "I wish the President wouldn't do this. It won't work. It's unconstitutional. It purports to exercise a power he himself said he does not have, but he seems determined to do it, nonetheless."
Joining Cruz and Cornyn are 66 other members of Congress, including U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Missouri) and Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) and over 60,000 Americans part of the Committee the Defend the Separation of Powers -- an arm of the Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism, Inc.
Rep. Steve King in an interview on CSPAN on Dec. 2 said there were three things the government could do to convince the present to rescind his executive action -- "vote of resolution of disapproval, censure the president and if censure didn't work cut off funding to implement or enforce the actions."
First reported by The Monitor, the amicus brief supports the lawsuit filed by the Attorney General of Texas and 24 other state attorney generals and governors on Dec. 3 that seeks a preliminary injunction against the president's executive action on immigration reform, claiming the executive order is unconstitutional, and Congress has exclusive authority to make laws and set policies.
This is the 31st time Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has sued the federal government since Obama came to the White House in 2009.
Abbott said about the lawsuit, "The president is abdicating his responsibility to faithfully enforce laws that were duly enacted by Congress, and attempting to rewrite immigration laws, which he has no authority to do."
Abbott will become the governor of Texas in 2015.
President Obama announced his executive action on immigration reform on Nov. 20, which would grant work permits and prevent deportation for three years for up to five million undocumented immigrants. The White House has already said the executive order falls within presidential powers, but argues the ultimate responsibility lies with Congress to enact meaningful immigration reform.
Tennessee was the most recent to join the lawsuit, the state's Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey, calls Obama's decision a "truly shocking display of executive arrogance".
States already signed onto the lawsuit are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen has scheduled a hearing on the lawsuit on Jan. 9 in federal court in Brownsville,Texas.