Judge Andrew Hanen, who issued an injunction that stopped the Obama administration’s plan for its version of immigration reform, has refused to lift the ban, saying the federal government, under President Obama’s orders, “has abdicated enforcement” of the nation’s immigration laws.
The U.S. district judge cited two factors this past weekend in refusing to halt the injunction (and thus letting the issue go to trial):
First, he learned that even before the plan was scheduled to go into effect on Feb. 18, the government had issued 100,000 three-year deportation deferrals for 100,000 undocumented aliens, even though government lawyers had assured him in court that no such thing had happened. On March 3, after earlier in-court assurances, the Department of Justice (DOJ) then admitted to the 100,000 deferrals to clear up any “confusion.”
Second, he cited President Obama’s own threat that those who didn’t follow his plan would suffer “consequences.” Specifically, right after issuing the immigration order in November, the president told a town hall gathering that the nation’s immigration laws “are not to be enforced when those laws conflict” with the president’s edict, and that there would be “consequences” for those who disobeyed.
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