The Department of Justice (DOJ) has vowed to stay the course in fighting a federal judge’s injunction against President Obama’s November 2014 immigration executive orders, which would award up to 5 million undocumented immigrants a safe haven from deportation and, for many of them, legal work permits, if implemented.
DOJ officials said Wednesday that they would not appeal to the Supreme Court, giving the rationale that, even if the justices approved the plan, it would scare away most undocumented immigrants from applying. However, to most observers it seems more likely that they instead would face an extremely uphill battle in getting the conservative majority to approve Obama’s sweeping executive orders.
“The department believes the best way to achieve this goal [immigration reform] is to focus on the ongoing appeal on the merits of the preliminary injunction itself,” said Justice Department spokesman Patrick Rodenbush.
On Tuesday, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld Federal District Judge Andrew Hanen’s injunction against the administration’s plan, issued on the eve of its implementation in February. The administration must now fight the injunction in Judge Hanen’s court, though it has one more appeal on the docket this summer with the 5th Circuit Court.
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