Texas Judge Hanen previously blocked execution of President Obama’s “executive action”, the DOJ now seeking to eliminate the injunction….  Hanen is well positioned to have his decision upheld.  However, like all Obama action – nothing is ever actually safe, just because the law is being followed.

(Via Associated Press) Federal appeals judges on Friday peppered lawyers on both sides with questions in a fight over President Barack Obama’s move to shield millions of immigrants from deportation.

A 5th Circuit Court of Appeals panel held a special hearing in a closely watched case that is holding up Obama’s immigration action.

A coalition of 26 states, led by Texas sued to block the plan. The hearing was on an appeal of a Texas judge’s injunction.

The Justice Department argued that Texas has no legal standing in the matter. Texas’ solicitor general countered that granting legal status to immigrants will be costly for Texas.

The judges did not rule and took the case under advisement. (more…)

Those following the Obama Immigration Executive Action legal battles will note yesterday Congressman Young  was asking Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Saldana the exact same point outlined in Judge Hanen’s rebuke of the White House.

From the ruling:

[Judge Hanen continues…] The President’s message, specifically to those law enforcement officials employed within the Executive Branch, and more generally to the nation, is clear. First, immigration laws (INA), which those officials are charged with enforcing, are not to be enforced when those laws conflict with the 2014 DHS Directive. Second, the criteria set out in that Directive are mandatory. Third, if DHS officials (or other Executive Branch officials) fail to follow the specified criteria, there will be consequences for this failure.

Just as there would be consequences if they were in the military and disobeyed an order from the Commander in Chief. In summary, the Chief Executive has ordered that the laws requiring removal of illegal immigrants that conflict with the 2014 DHS Directive are not to be enforced, and that anyone who attempts to do so will be punished.  (link)

So yesterday ICE Director Saldana is on Capitol Hill answering questions when Republican David Young asks Mrs. Saldana about the conflict between the law, and the rules imposed by President Obama that force border patrol agents to: a.) break the law, or b.) break Obama’s executive action rules.

How Saldana replies is, well, JAW DROPPING.  – Watch video below: (more…)

Two judicial rulings yesterday, one in Obama’s favor and one against. However, the ruling released late last night shows a crafty piece of judicial chess.

The first ruling yesterday was a 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Mississippi VS DHS (more here). The 5th circuit ruled against the State of Mississippi, and in favor of the Obama DOJ, by essentially ruling the State failed to prove a burden of harm.

The second aspect inherent within the same 5th CCA ruling disregarded concerns of ICE/DHS retaliation -against border patrol enforcement- by asserting DHS rules forbid the retaliation; ergo the concerns were unfounded.

In the second issue, the ICE agents’ argument that they would receive retribution if they detained an illegal immigrant eligible for DACA, the court sided with ICE and DHS referencing handbooks and rules which forbid the administration from retribution.  (link)

However, in the second case, the ruling late last night, Texas vs DHS, under the authority of Judge Andrew Hanen, the expanded Obama Executive Action was blocked from implementation in February.

Judge Hanen issued an emergency injunction stopping the expanded deferment authorization as  outlined in President Obama’s November 2014 executive action.

Since the initial ruling the DOJ was now arguing for a lifting of that injunction, and Judge Hanen was having none of it.

A significant statement from Judge Hanen toward the DOJ attorneys was his admonishment for their prior misrepresentations to the court regarding implementation taking place.  The DOJ had previously stated in court that DHS was not implementing the new “expanded executive action” yet, and any injunction would stop any adverse action.

It was later discovered –by an admission to the court– that DHS had, in actuality, already begun to implement the November “executive action”. Judge Hanen was understandably angered by the misrepresentation. (more…)

The Fifth District Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit against an Obama administration DACA program – delaying deportations of illegal aliens who came to the U.S. as children. This is a different case than the challenge as to whether President Obama’s expanded immigration executive actions can proceed.

In today’s decision the court ruled plaintiffs’, the state of Mississippi and agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), did not provide enough evidence to prove they were harmed by the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that allows qualifying illegal immigrants to apply for work permits. (more…)

This is a follow-up to an ongoing issue within the Obama illegal alien executive action. Backstory HERE.

(Via Fox News) A federal judge sharply scolded a Justice Department attorney at a hearing on President Obama’s immigration executive actions, suggesting that the administration misled him on a key part of the program — and that he fell for it, “like an idiot.”

The testy court hearing was held Thursday in Texas by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen. The judge suggested he could order sanctions against the administration if he finds they indeed misrepresented the facts.

At issue is whether the DOJ misled the judge into believing that a plank of the Obama program — giving deportation reprieves to thousands of young illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children — would not go forward before he made a ruling on a request to halt it. In fact, federal officials had given more than 108,000 people three-year reprieves before that date and granted them work permits under the program.

Obama’s executive actions would spare from deportation as many as 5 million people who are in the U.S. illegally. Many Republicans oppose the actions, saying only Congress has the right to take such sweeping action. Twenty-six states led by Texas joined together to challenge them as unconstitutional. Hanen on Feb. 16 sided with the states, issuing a preliminary injunction blocking Obama’s actions. (more…)

(Via Daily Caller) U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Thom Tillis have confirmed that a 19-year-old gang member accused of murdering four people, including a former reality TV model, was granted amnesty in 2013 even though he was slated for removal because of a 2012 drug possession charge.

Emmanuel Jesus Rangel-Hernandez is the suspect in question. One of the four people he is accused of murdering in drug-related killings in Charlotte, N.C. last month is “America’s Next Top Model” contestant Mirjana Puhar.

Another man, 20-year-old David Ezequel Lopez, was arrested on Thursday in connection with the reality show star’s murder.

[…] In their letter, Grassley and Tillis cite a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police affidavit which shows Rangel-Hernandez was arrested for misdemeanor possession of marijuana on March 30, 2012. (more…)

Immigrant students paid to have false enrollment in order to have visa extensions granted for schools and classes they never attended.

(Via LA Times) Authorities arrested the operators of four Los Angeles-area trade schools for allegedly running an elaborate “pay-to-stay” scam in which foreign nationals used student visas to stay in the United States without actually going to school..

The schools appear to have tapped the booming Asian immigration population in Koreatown and the San Gabriel Valley. Authorities say the suspects took in $6 million a year in tuition payments.

[…] The arrests were the culmination of a four-year probe by Homeland Security Investigations. (more…)

When Federal Judge Andrew Hanen previously blocked the implementation of Obama’s sweeping immigration “executive action”, the DOJ claimed nothing had been done to begin the rules change.  However, they lied.

From the time of the November 2014 President Obama announcement, to the February 2015 court ruling, the Department of Homeland Security had implemented rules to change the status of over 100,000 illegal aliens.  (link for explanation)

After Hanen’s ruling, the DOJ then tried to backtrack on the initial filing with the court and quietly inform the court –through another filing– that the DHS had already executed the change of status.  Hanen is now calling the Obama administration back to his courtroom to explain why they lied.

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — The judge who blocked President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration has ordered the Justice Department to answer allegations the government misled him about part of the plan.

U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen has ordered federal government lawyers to appear in his court March 19 in Brownsville. The hearing is in response to a filing last week in which the government acknowledged some deportation reprieves were granted before Hanen’s Feb. 16 injunction.

(more…)

The absolute number one reason the Obama “executive action” will fail in court is the issuance of, and creation of, an entirely new classification of “Illegal Alien”.

The classification is being created through the issuance of Social Security numbers and work authorization permits. There is nothing even remotely in the realm of “prosecutorial discretion” when it comes to reclassifying work eligibility.

Thus, when questioned DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson cannot answer the question.

[ Request: Does anyone have a link to the actual verbiage of the Obama ‘executive action’ rule(s)?]

(CNSNews.com) – When asked to do so at a Thursday press briefing, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson failed to cite any law that authorized President Barack Obama to give Social Security Numbers to illegal aliens.

CNSNews.com asked Johnson: “A federal court in Texas v. United States has said giving an illegal alien a Social Security Number is not an act of prosecutorial discretion. What specific law gives the president the authority to give a Social Security Number to a foreign national in the country illegally?”

Rather than answer the question, Johnson instead noted that the administration has appealed the court’s injunction against the administration’s unilateral action on immigration. (more…)

Guaranteed “Rights” of Illegal Aliens?  Apparently, Up is Down, and Down is Up.