Texas Attorney General ‘Very Confident’ Courts Will Side With States in Fight Over Obama Immigration Policy
Josh Siegel /
As lawmakers in Congress struggle to find agreement in their fight to undo President Obama’s immigration policy, a state attorney general today voiced confidence in the courtroom battle over the executive actions.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called the Obama administration “disingenuous” and “devious” for appealing a federal judge’s order halting the president’s executive actions on immigration.
Speaking at The Heritage Foundation today, Paxton made his case for why President Obama’s immigration policies would cause “severe harm” to his state—including, he says, hundreds of millions of dollars in costs for education, health care and public safety.
“The president, on his own, has issued a separate action in opposition to current law,” Paxton told The Daily Signal in an exclusive interview. “So as a matter of caring about the Constitution, that affects my state, that affects the entire country.”
On Monday, the Obama administration formally filed to “stay,” or suspend, U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen’s preliminary injunction that prevented the immigration initiatives from going into effect.
“Preventing the deferred action policies from going into effect interferes with the Federal Government’s comprehensive strategy for enforcing our immigration laws,” Sarah Saldana, director of U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, wrote in the emergency motion to stay the ruling.
If Hanen lifts his prior order, then Obama’s immigration actions would be allowed to move forward while the lawsuit proceeds through the courts.
Texas leads a 26-state effort to block the executive actions Obama took in November to protect up to five million illegal immigrants from deportation and grant them work permits.
Paxton argues the Obama administration should not be able to implement its policy until the legal process plays out.
“They’re well aware that the second they begin running the paperwork [for work permits], it’s effectively game over,” Paxton said. “It’s next to impossible to reverse.”
In his interview with The Daily Signal after the speech (watch above), Paxton explained why he’s “very confident” the courts will rule in his favor.
Thaleigha Rampersad produced the video.