About 5 million undocumented immigrants, including many kababayans, will now have to wait again after a federal judge from Texas ruled to stall the implementation of President Barack Obama’s executive orders on immigration, pending the decision of the court on its constitutionality.
“I disagree with the Texas judge’s ruling and the Justice Department will appeal,” Obama said, as he remained confident and hopeful that soon, these qualified undocumented immigrants and their families will get the help that they need to live and work in America without fear of deportation and being torn apart.
The Obama administration’s appeal to the ruling will head to what it considered the most conservative federal appeals court in the country, the 5th Circuit. The active judges of the 5th Circuit are reportedly Republicans, by a 2 to 1 margin. Such an appeal process may take months for the court to decide on his executive orders.
Those directly affected by this temporary setback are eligible undocumented youth would have been able to apply for deportation relief and work permits beginning February 18. Also affected are the undocumented of US citizens or permanent residents would have also been able to apply for the same relief measures in May.
Undocumented Filipinos and their advocates in LA were shocked and dismayed over this turn of events, just a day before the implementation of Obama’s executive orders. But as Correspondent Steve Angeles reported on Balitang America, these kababayans share President Obama’s optimism, believing that the law and history is on their side.
“This by the court is political,” Jorge Mario Cabrera of the Coalition for Humane Immigration Reform LA said. “Once it reaches the Court of Appeals and the 5th Circuit, we believe it’s going to thrown out and hopefully soon we will renew the application process for both DACA and DAPA. It will probably take a few more weeks, maybe a few more months, until the court has decided. But we do believe that we have history on our side and the law on our side.”
On the other hand, Filipino-American Attorney General Sean Reyes of Utah, one of the 23 states that sued Obama over his executive orders on immigration, pointed out in a report on Balitang America: “We did not join this lawsuit to address immigration policy. Whether you agree or disagree with some, all or none of the president’s proposals is not the point. The process of how President Obama overstepped his legal authority is what is being challenged.”
But as the Huffington Post reported, immigrant rights advocates tell undocumented immigrants to keep calm, as the preliminary injunction issued by US District Court Judge Andrew Hanen was “expected”.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said because of this ruling by the federal judge from Texas, the DHS could not begin accepting applications on February 18 for the expanded DACA program or continue to plan for the DAPA program for now.
Sec. Johnson however, clarified that the order does not mean people who qualified for DACA under the 2012 guidelines are blocked from applying for the program or renewing their status.
Moreover, Asian American immigration rights advocates declare in a report by Steve Angeles that it’s time to regroup and continue the fight.
“We urge people to continue preparing to file for the applications that we believe will come about in due time. Were hopeful again this will be a short delay there’s no way of predicting how long that will take,” said Stewart Kwoh, executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles.
Cognizant that the length of the appeal is unknown, advocates point out that undocumented immigrants should look into programs that are already available such as the original DACA program.
“We don’t want this injunction to deter anybody from applying. In fact, anybody that’s currently qualified for DACA should continue to get help and apply. And anybody who’s qualified for the new programs, just continue to prepare your documents because it’s not a matter of if it’s going to happen, but more likely when,” said Fil-Am Tiffany Panlilio of Advancing Justice-LA.
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
