About a dozen states are preparing a legal brief that argues in favor of lifting the hold a federal judge placed on President Obama's immigration actions,
reports Greg Sargent.
The move could precipitate an argument among the states over Obama’s policies, and will raise a question: If some states have successfully gotten the courts to block Obama’s actions nationwide, what should happen if other states want those actions to proceed? The bid by these states also could make it more likely that the courts lift the injunction and allow his deportation relief to move forward, at least in some states, while the legal battle over them plays out.
This is an effort led by Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who will be going head-to-head with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's effort, supported by 26 states, to roll back the Obama program that would provide deportation relief and work permits to as many as five million undocumented immigrants. The legal brief will support the Obama administration's effort to appeal Judge Andrew Hanen's temporary hold on the immigration actions.
The Texas judge obviously imposed the injunction nationwide anyway. But the way in which he did so provides an opening for these appealing states: If the basis for the injunction is the harm Obama’s actions allegedly do to Texas and the states on the lawsuit, then what about the appealing states’ claims of harm to them from the injunction? Thus, the latter states will argue that, at a minimum, the 5th Circuit should lift the injunction for them, because they stand to suffer economic harm if the injunction proceeds. They will also argue that Texas is the only state that has demonstrated it will suffer harm, so the injunction nationwide — and on them — is inappropriate.
Time is of the essence because many millions of immigrants are waiting for relief but also, in part, because immigration advocates fear that a lengthy implementation process might jeopardize the overall program. The flip side is, if at least some states are able to begin implementing the actions, the more likely the program will be to move forward nationwide.