Immigration Executive Lawsuit Update: Immigrant Rights Advocates to Rally at DACA, DAPA Court Hearing
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is set to hold a hearing on President Barack Obama's Nov. 20, 2014, immigration executive actions, and pro-immigration groups are set to make their voices heard.
As Latin Post reported, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen of the Southern District of Texas' Brownsville Division ruled to temporary block Obama's two deferred action programs on Feb. 16. Hanen's ruling went in favor of 26 U.S. states seeking to block the programs, citing Obama overreached his presidential powers. The lawsuit was created by then-Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who has since became the state's governor. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court in hopes it will lift Hanen's temporary injunction.
The two deferred action programs are the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and new Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) programs. Those programs would grant approximately 4.9 million eligible undocumented immigrants the opportunity to stay in the U.S., avoid deportation for three years and obtain a work permit.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled a hearing for April 17.
The Texas Organizing Project (TOP), a community organizing and civic engagement group, revealed that its members from Dallas and Houston will travel to New Orleans for the Fifth Circuit Court's hearing. TOP is in support of Obama's immigration executive actions.
"I was raised in Texas, am attending a college here and want to work and contribute to my state," said 21-year-old Lone Star College student Camila Trujillo, in a statement via TOP. "Gov. Abbott needs to drop the lawsuit and allow families like mine to be able to live freely and contribute even more to our home state. He ran on a platform of family unity, but his actions say he doesn't care about Latino and immigrant families."
The New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice (NOWCRJ) announced hundreds of immigrant workers and families will hold a rally outside the Fifth Circuit's courthouse in support of the DACA and DAPA programs.
"DAPA was won in the streets -- it happened because undocumented workers and families, together with the immigrant and civil rights movement at large, pushed President Obama to take bold action," said NOWCRJ Executive Director Saket Soni. "Now it has to be defended in the streets as well."
According to the Justice Department, Hanen's temporary injunction violated other states who have supported the deferred action programs. The department is seeking for the temporary injunction to be reversed, or at least to maintain the temporary injunction for the 26 states participating in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit, now led by current-Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, includes Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.
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