Thousands of immigrants who are hoping the president’s controversial new executive order on immigration will allow them to stay in the country may soon have those hopes dashed as a federal judge ruled against the president yesterday, accusing him of making an unconstitutional end-run around Congress in drawing up the new law.
The Washington Times is reporting that Judge Arthur J. Schwab from the western district of Pennsylvania issued a scathing memo against the president in which he accused him of usurping Congress’ power to make laws.
“President Obama’s unilateral legislative action violates the separation of powers provided for in the United States Constitution as well as the Take Care Clause, and therefore is unconstitutional,” Judge Schwab wrote.
Obama’s new rule allows up to five million illegal immigrants to apply for “deferred action” and work permits if they were brought to the U.S. as children or if they have children who are either U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents of the country.
Schwab went on to systematically destroy every one of the administration’s arguments in the case, saying that even though presidents have the power to decide how to enforce laws, Obama’s executive order goes well beyond that by setting up a system of legal protections for broad groups of individuals.
Even though Schwab’s order does not invalidate the president’s new policy, it will definitely have an impact on other challenges to the new amnesty law that are making their way through the courts.
Judge Schwab issued his memo in a case involving an illegal immigrant named Elionardo Juarez-Escobar, who was deported in 2005 but snuck back into the country to go to work for his brother who is a U.S. citizen. He was eventually caught and reported to federal authorities who charged him with illegally entering the U.S.
The judge asked why Obama’s new amnesty policy didn’t apply to Juarez-Escobar, who has a “close bond” with his brother. Because one of Obama’s arguments for signing the new executive order is to prevent families from being torn apart, Schwab wondered why it only applied to parent-child relationships. Why doesn’t it apply to other family relations such as siblings?
” . . . Judge Schwab went point-by-point in refuting those arguments, saying that since Mr. Obama couched his policy as a moral imperative to keep families together, it is not so easy to undo his policy,” the Times reports. “And the judge repeatedly used Mr. Obama’s own words against him, listing some of the times the president had previously said he didn’t have the power to take the exact actions he has now taken.”
Schwab’s ruling is a definite “shot across the bow” for the government, especially in light of upcoming challenges to the law which will take place next week in Washington DC. Another case is proceeding in Texas.
Millions of immigrants and their families who had hoped to be able to stay in the country as a result of the president’s executive order are now back to worrying anew if those dreams will be possible after all.
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