U.S. Delays Obama's Immigration Steps After Judge's Rebuke

Reuters.com:

President Barack Obama's administration on Tuesday delayed implementing his unilateral steps to shield millions of illegal immigrants from deportation after a judge blocked the actions at the urging of 26 states accusing Obama of exceeding his powers.

In a setback to the president, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville, a city along the Texas border with Mexico, issued a temporary court order on Monday stopping Obama's executive actions that bypassed a gridlocked Congress.

Hanen's action left in disarray U.S. policy toward the roughly 11 million people in the country illegally. 

Obama said he disagreed with the ruling and expected his administration to prevail once the issue made its way through the courts.

"The law is on our side and history is on our side," Obama told reporters in the Oval Office.

The president said the administration will comply with the judge's order and delay accepting applications from some of the illegal immigrants for deportation relief and work permits that had been set to begin on Wednesday.

"We will be prepared to implement this fully as soon as the legal issues get resolved," Obama said. He urged Congress to pass legislation to reform the U.S. immigration system more broadly.

Obama said the Justice Department will appeal Hanen's preliminary injunction to the majority conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. Hanen has previously issued other opinions critical of the Obama administration’s enforcement of immigration laws.

Hanen's preliminary injunction is not a ruling on the merits of the lawsuit filed by 26 states, led by Republican bastions such as Texas. 

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