Immigrant rights advocates are reaching out to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's Latina wife to help end his lawsuit blocking President Barack Obama's deferred action programs.

Members of the Texas Organizing Project (TOP) protested outside the HESS Club in Houston, where Cecilia Abbott was scheduled to speak. TOP's main focus, however, is her husband, who launched the lawsuit that has blocked the new Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) and the updated Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programs from its implementation.

For Thursday's protest, TOP members sought to make an appeal to the first lady of Texas for the governor to meet with Latinos and immigrant families.

"We're hoping to appeal to her as a mother," said TOP member Margarita Rivera, mother of three U.S.-born daughters and would be qualified for DAPA. "As a mother, I worry every day that a chance encounter with the police is going to lead to my deportation and separation from my family. As a mother, she must understand our struggle to keep our families together and safe."

The protest saw members chant and hold banners as Rivera gave Texas State Sen. Sylvia Garcia a letter for Cecilia. According to TOP, the letter asked for the governor to drop the lawsuit against DACA and DAPA.

Abbott started the lawsuit during his tenure as Texas' attorney general. Current Attorney General Ken Paxton has continued the lawsuit, which received support from Republican governors and attorneys general from 25 states: 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.

DAPA and the expanded DACA guidelines 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).

As a result of the lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen of the Southern District of Texas' Brownsville Division placed a temporary injunction on the deferred action programs, and the federal government was barred from implementing the programs.

Following the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)'s appeal to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the three judges voted 2-1 to not lift the DOJ's request to lift the temporary injunction. The DOJ had hoped the temporary injunction would at least be lifted for the remaining 24 states and Washington, D.C. in favor of DACA and DAPA. The final fate of the updated DACA and new DAPA programs are still pending.

According to Gov. Abbott, Obama abandoned his responsibility to preserve and protect the U.S. Constitution when he issued the November 2014 immigration executive action.

He added, "We live in a nation governed by a system of checks and balances, and the President's attempt to bypass the will of the American people was successfully checked again today. I am pleased with the Court of Appeals for preserving the injunction against President Obama's unlawful action and for recognizing the fundamental principles upon which our nation was founded."

Cecilia's grandparents immigrated from Mexico and has been married to Greg for 33 years.

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