White House asks judge to reverse injunction on immigration

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration moved Monday to reverse a federal judge’s order in Texas that blocked a White House plan to shield up to 5 million immigrants from deportation.

In a court filing in Brownsville, Texas, the government urged U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen to lift his own injunction and allow President Barack Obama’s immigration initiatives to proceed. Those initiatives would offer immigrants in the country illegally the chance to apply for a three-year permit to stay and work on U.S. soil if they met certain criteria.

“Leaving the injunction in place would work immense harm to the public interest by undermining … efforts to encourage illegal aliens with significant ties to the community and no serious criminal record to come out of the shadows and to request the ability to work legally,” the motion says.

The administration argued that Texas and 25 other states that sued the government had no legal standing to interfere in federal enforcement of immigration law.

Hanen’s ruling already has disrupted the government’s effort to prepare for an expected onslaught of applications. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service had leased an office center in northern Virginia, and asked contractors to submit bids to supply records services by Monday.

That contract was canceled Friday, as the program ground to a halt.

Obama had invoked his executive authority when he announced the deportation waiver program in November, saying he was tired of waiting for Congress to reform the immigration system.

The 26 states challenged Obama’s actions in court. Last week, hours before the application process was scheduled to start, Hanen issued an injunction that barred implementation of the programs, agreeing with the states that Obama had outstripped his constitutional powers.

The administration asked Hanen to stay his own order while the government appeals his ruling.

Hanen is considered unlikely to lift his own preliminary injunction, but officials said the administration is trying to send a message of urgency to the courts.