Another setback stared unlawful immigrants in the face this week, as a Texan judge brought the President’s executive order on immigration to a standstill.
The President’s decisions were issued an injunction by the U S District Judge Andrew Hanen, which he announced in November – these would have protected up to 5 million unlawful immigrants from possible deportation. Work permits too would have been issued to the immigrants. In the ruling the judge took sides with 26 states that had filed a court ruling against the Obama administration, deriding his executive actions. The states had declared that the pervading questions pertaining to immigration issues in the Constitution should be first solved before any program could proceed.
The first program, an extended version of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, DACA, that began in the year 2012, and one which would apply to almost 270,000 unlawful immigrants who entered the United States as children-was expected to begin accepting applications in a day or two.
A second program which is slated to accord deportation help to the unlawful parents of U S citizens and lawful residents, which is called the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents was planned to have started in the month of May. Both have been delayed for an indefinite time frame.
Authorities at the southern borders of the USA are getting ready for another surge of children who will be illegal immigrants to come into the country. Although the officials expect a much lower rate of immigration than last year, still, the spike is expected to be remarkable.
Those who are experts on immigration are making projections that more than 40,000 unescorted children may make attempts to cross into the United States from Mexico, which is down by almost 45 per cent than in the year 2014.
But even this number is most likely to be one of the highest spikes on record, and it is expected to put pressure on personnel who are at the border and increasingly force the Congress to return to the topic when it comes to funding for the government. The entry could also spark another political squabble over the sticky issues concerning border security and immigration reform, especially as the 2016 presidential contest starts heating up over the summer.
Many administration officers who were caught off guard during the surge last year state that they are much prepared this year than last. But everybody is concerned that the policy makers, both in the White House and in Capitol Hill were not doing enough to address the issue.
A recent bill introduced in the state of California is all set to make it the first state to allow unlawful immigrants to receive medical help and participate in its health care exchange program. This will enable the extension of coverage to more than 1 million people in the state.
The bill is a measure from Democratic Senator Ricardo Lara, and is all set to change the state law to allow illegal immigrants access to Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program. The bill would also empower the state’s Health and Human Services Agency to get access to a waiver from the federal government that would allow unlawful immigrants to enroll in the state’s exchange, Covered California.
The state of California has an unauthorized population bearing 2.6 million immigrants. Out of this 1.6 million people who have access to health insurance receive it through their employers or county-based programs, stated the government affairs Manager of the California Immigrant Policy Centre.
Many Senate Republicans of the state of California, while they acknowledged the requirement of immigration reform were not very decisive in imposing budget demands on the state, as they felt that the government had failed to act, and the state of California was bearing the brunt of it. They stated that they understood the obstacles and difficulties being faced by the immigrants – the rationale behind these bills was admirable, but without enough funds and finances it was extremely difficult for taxpayers of the state of California to finance these bills, they mooted.
The temporary block on a White House immigration plan will continue. The federal judge in Texas has refused to lift an injunction that he had imposed; the plan would have protected millions of unlawful immigrants from deportation.
Twenty six states in the US had filed a suit stating that the President had exceeded his powers with executive orders that would enable 4.7 million unlawful immigrants to stay in the country without the threat of deportation. The President’s orders bypassed the Congress, as it was not able to agree on immigration reform.
Texan Attorney General Ken Paxton stated recently that the Obama government had misled the court regarding the early implementation of increased work permits to unlawful immigrants.
The issue was that a U S government filed recently that some 100,000 people had been given 3 year periods of deferred action before the judge’s ruling. The Justice Department asked for an emergency stay of the Texan Judge’s decision earlier on February 23rd. The Department has also filed a notice of appeal to the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in the city of New Orleans.
The court recently rejected the opposition to President Obama’s executive action that granted relief from deportation to illegal immigrants who were brought to the US illegally when they were children.