Texas, 16 Other States, Suing Obama over Immigration Order

Texas is leading a 17-state coalition that’s suing in response to President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration, which were designed to spare millions of illegal aliens from deportation. The Day reported.

The plaintiffs argue in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that the move “tramples” key components of the U.S. Constitution.

Texas Governor-elect who is that state’s current Attorney General Greg Abbott started the move by filing a formal legal challenge in federal court in the Southern District of Texas.

Texas is joined by 16 mostly conservative states, including Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana and both Carolinas, asking the court to block Obama’s actions.

Obama’s Nov. 20th order extends protection from deportation, as well as the right to work in the U.S., to more than 4 million parents of children who are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.

According to The Day, the lawsuit charges that Obama violated the “Take Care Clause” of the U.S. Constitution—meant to ensure that a law is faithfully executed by the President, even if he disagrees with the purpose of that law—and also claims that the order will “exacerbate the humanitarian crisis along the southern border, which will affect increased state investment in law enforcement, health care and education.”

Abbott argued that the president’s job is to “execute the law, not de facto make law.”

White House spokeswoman Brandi Hoffine said the president’s executive order is not out of legal bounds. “The Supreme Court and Congress have made clear that federal officials can set priorities in enforcing our immigration laws, ” she said.

The U.S. Supreme Court has granted immigration officials “broad discretion” on deportation matters, and many legal scholars have supported Obama’s immigration executive decision.

Ronald Reagan also issued executive orders on immigration, including outright amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants.