Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been criticized by a Texas-based civic engagement organization for his inaction on immigration and immigrant families.

The Texas Organizing Project (TOP) has been protesting against Abbott, who initiated the immigration executive action lawsuit that has temporarily blocked the implementation of the new Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) and updated Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programs. The group has asked Abbott to meet with immigrant families.

"Gov. Abbott claims to be a friend of the Latino community, but denying mothers, fathers and young people a chance at deportation relief is destructive and hurtful," said TOP member Felicitas Alonzo, who is eligible for DAPA and DACA. "We are going to keep reminding Gov. Abbott that his lawsuit to stop DAPA and DACA is wrong, and hurting our state's Latino and immigrant communities."

TOP launched and delivered a petition to Abbott's Capitol office with more than 1,300 signatures during the last week to meet with immigrant families and drop the lawsuit.

The petition, which is still open for signatures, included a statement from TOP member Camila Trujillo. She stated, "Abbott may think that he scored a victory against President Obama, but this isn't about him and the President. Or Republicans vs. Democrats. This is about Gov. Abbott attacking Latino families to keep us living in fear. He believes he can take away our hope, take away our victory."

"When I meet with Gov. Abbott, the first thing I'll tell him is that he can't make our families or communities scared anymore," added Trujillo. "We've already won. The law is on the President's side, and we're going to keep organizing to build power for our community."

As Latin Post reported, the lawsuit, created by then-Texas Attorney General Abbott and now led by current-Attorney General Ken Paxton, emphasized that Obama's immigration executive actions were unconstitutional. In a statement released on April 17, Paxton said the executive branch cannot create new laws and the Obama administration defied the separation of powers.

On Feb. 16, two days before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency was to launch the new DACA guidelines programs, Texas Judge Andrew Hanen issued a temporary injunction on the federal government from implementing the two deferred action programs. Abbott and Paxton have since received support from 25 other U.S. states.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) appealed to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to lift the temporary injunction and arguments were heard on April 17. The three judges of the appeals court have not specified on when they would render a decision.

With Texas, the other 25 states in the lawsuit are Alabama, 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.

The DACA and DAPA programs would provide approximately 4.9 million eligible undocumented immigrants a temporary but renewable three-year stay in the U.S. pending requirements instructed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

__

For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

Related