The Obama administration petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 20, seeking to overturn a ruling halting the president’s executive amnesty order issued last November.
"A divided court of appeals has upheld an unprecedented nationwide injunction against implementing a federal immigration enforcement policy of great national importance, and has done so in violation of established limits on the judicial power,” states the petition for review.
“If left undisturbed, that ruling will allow States to frustrate the federal government’s enforcement of the Nation’s immigration laws.”
In May, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied the Obama Administration’s motion for an emergency stay in the legal battle. On Nov. 9 the federal court upheld the injunction blocking its implementation until the case goes to trial.
Both Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton have openly criticized the president’s move to empower illegal immigrants, forming a collation of states to fight the action in the courts.
Abbott, while he was still attorney general, filed the original proceedings Dec. 3, 2014, in the U.S. Court for the Southern District, Texas-Brownsville Division. Since then, more than half the states in the union joined the Texas-led lawsuit challenging Obama’s Nov. 20, 2014, amnesty order.
On Feb. 16, a federal judge in Brownsville halted President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration, provoking the administration to call upon the Fifth Circuit.
The states sought to enjoin the U.S. and Department of Homeland Security to prevent the implementation of “Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents” – a program designed to enable millions of illegal immigrants to obtain a variety of both state and federal benefits.
Texas and its allies had argued the expense of granting legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants would place an undue financial burden on states.
Joining Texas 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.