Obama to seek immediate stay of order
ON Monday, February 16, 2015, US District Judge Andrew S. Hanen in Brownsville, TX, granted a temporary injunction temporarily halting Obama’s executive action expansions that were set to go into effect on February 18, 2015. Hanen, a George W. Bush appointee, had been handpicked by 26 “Red State” plaintiffs that filed the underlying lawsuit to challenge the President ruled Monday that Obama exceeded his legal authorizing in taking his executive actions on immigration last year.
The President, however, immediately vowed to appeal, citing that other courts have endorsed his legal authority to reform the immigration system and better protect the border. The Obama administration will seek to lift Hanen’s injunction and Justice Department lawyers will file papers no later than Monday, February 23, 2015 to stay the order that blocked plans to defer deportations for up to 5 million migrants who are in the country illegally.
Prior to the politically-inspired lawsuit, the USCIS has announced that it woud begin accepting applications for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) under the expanded guidelines the President announced last November, on February 18, 2015. Under “DACA II,” a person who arrived in the US while under the age of 16 on or before January 1, 2010 may apply for deferred action and a work permit, as long as otherwise qualified.
The first of the new executive actions to have gone into effect this year, the DACA II program expands the population of eligible applicants for deferred action and work authorization to include young people who came to this country before turning 16 years old who have been present in the US since January 1, 2010, and extends the period of DACA validity and work authorization from two years to three years.
DACA II eliminates the age “ceiling” restriction of the first DACA, which made ineligible any person who had already reached the age of 31 as of the program’s effective date. Under DACA II, the age of the applicant at the time of filing is not relevant, only the age at which the person first arrived in the US is important. USCIS anticipates that it will receive thousands of applications as soon as the filing period commences on February 18, 2015.
In addition to expanding the DACA program, Obama’s Executive Actions will allow also allow parents of US citizens and lawful permanent residents born on or before November 20, 2014, who have been in the country since January 1, 2010, to request deferred action and employment authorization for three years in a new Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) program, provided they pass required background checks. This “DAPA” program is scheduled to become effective in May 2015, pending the outcome of the present litigation.
Since the Executive Action is facing at least a temporary roadblock, Immigrants who believe they may be affected or could benefit from DACA II or the other new executive action programs should consult with a competent immigration attorney for a correct understanding of the situation and avoid “notaries” and “consultants” in seeking any new status.
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Daniel P. Hanlon is a California State Bar Certified Specialist in Immigration and Nationality Law and a principal of Hanlon Law Group, PC, located at 225 S. Lake Ave., 11th Floor in Pasadena, California; Tel. No. (626) 585-8005. Hanlon Law Group, PC is a “full-service Immigration Law firm.” E-mail: [email protected] and www.hanlonlawgroup.com.
