U.S. court backs hold on Obama’s immigration plan

A U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused Tuesday to lift a temporary hold on an executive action by President Barack Obama that could shield as many as 5 million immigrants illegally living in the U.S. from deportation. The U.S. Justice Department had asked the court to reverse a Texas judge who agreed to temporarily block the president’s plan in February, after 26 states filed a lawsuit alleging Obama’s action was unconstitutional. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the government will appeal, either to the full appeals court in New Orleans or to the U.S. Supreme Court.

If the Supreme Court doesn’t take it up until June 2016, that puts us right in the middle of the presidential election.

Michael Dorf, a Cornell University law professor, to Bloomberg

The states suing to block the plan, led by Texas, argue that Obama acted outside his authority and that the changes would force them to invest more in law enforcement, health care and education. But the White House has said the president acted within his powers to fix a “broken immigration system,” and that immigration policy is a domain of the federal government, not the states.

Politics Obama Immigration