Not a surprise, I guess.
A Brownsville-based federal judge on Tuesday denied the Obama administration’s request to let a controversial immigration program proceed while the issue plays out in the courts.
United States District Judge Andrew Hanen ruled that his initial decision to halt the president’s November executive action — which seeks to grant deportation relief and a work permit to up to 5 million undocumented immigrants, including a portion of the 1.6 million currently living in Texas — was the right one.
Hanen initially ruled that the White House violated the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs the way federal policies are crafted and how much input the public gets.
[…]
Hanen blocked the measure in February and the Obama administration immediately requested that the judge delay his own order. But on Tuesday, Hanen reiterated that wasn’t going to happen.
“Having considered the positions of all parties and the applicable law, this court remains convinced that its original findings and rulings in the Order of Temporary Injunction and Memorandum Opinion and Order issued on Feb. 16, 2015 … were correct,” he wrote in a 15-page opinion.
See here and here for the background. The Obama administration has filed an appeal to the Fifth Circuit, which will hear oral arguments on April 17. How long they take from there is anyone’s guess. There is some good news for the Obama administration – as Vox reported, the Fifth Circuit just threw out a different lawsuit, filed by Mississippi, over its earlier immigration actions. It’s not an exact parallel, but there’s evidence in their ruling to suggest they might disagree with Judge Hanen. Check it out.