Well, that was predictable.
Yesterday, Judicial Watch revealed that in spite of an injunction barring implementation, the Obama Administration is preparing for a full-scale rollout of Obama’s controversial plans for immigration executive amnesty.
Nobody expected the Administration to take the injunction lying down—amnesty’s best chance for survival is a friendly judge—so the continued preparation was less of a scandal and more of continuing proof of Obama’s confidence in his ability to shove these terrible policies down our throats, one way or another. Similarly, yesterday’s announcement that the White House will ask for an emergency order authorizing the amnesty programs’ rollout was no shock.
More via Politico:
With pressure building from immigrant rights activists for swift action to overturn the injunction a federal judge in Texas issued Monday night, White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters that the administration decided to seek a stay that could lift the order. The action could buy time as an appeal Obama promised plays out.At a daily briefing, Earnest said Department of Justice lawyers will file legal papers by “Monday at the latest.” But pending further legal developments, the Department of Homeland Security’s plans to start taking applications this week for an expanded program for immigrants who arrived in the U.S. illegally as children remain suspended indefinitely.“Once we have taken some additional steps through this legal process, we may be in a position to give you an update,” Earnest added.
If granted, a stay will give the Administration the near-immediate ability to continue with the program’s rollout that they would miss out on if they relied on the upcoming appeal that activists have called for and White House officials have repeatedly assured is coming:
“We — as immigrants and as Americans — have waited for nearly a quarter century for these much-needed improvements to our broken immigration system,” Marielena Hincapié, head of the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), said Friday in a statement. “We should not allow a flawed legal decision to delay these changes any longer.”Making good on earlier vows, DOJ will also file a separate appeal seeking to restart the executive programs.”We will seek that appeal because we believe when you evaluate the legal merits of the arguments, that there is a solid legal foundation for the president to take the steps he announced last year to help reform our immigration system,” Earnest said.
26 states led by Texas challenged the executive orders President Obama announced late last year. No ruling has been made on the merits of the challenge, and previously-implemented immigration programs will remain up and running while this plays out.
We’ll keep you updated on the progress of the Administration’s request.
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