Administration officials postponed President Obamas sweeping executive actions
President Obama was confident Tuesday that he would win the legal battle over immigration. The law is on our side, he said. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times
The New York Times
Dealt Setback, Obama Puts Off Immigrant Plan
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR and JULIA PRESTON
WASHINGTON One day before hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants were to begin applying for work permits and legal protection, administration officials on Tuesday postponed President Obamas sweeping executive actions on immigration indefinitely, saying they had no choice but to comply with a federal judges last-minute order halting the programs.
The judges ruling was a significant setback for the president, who had asserted broad authority to take executive actions in the face of congressional Republicans refusal to overhaul the immigration system. White House officials have defended the presidents actions as legal and proper even as his adversaries in Congress and the states have accused him of vastly exceeding the powers of his office.
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In a decision late Monday, Judge Andrew S. Hanen, of Federal District Court for the Southern District of Texas, in Brownsville, ruled in favor of Texas and 25 other states that had challenged Mr. Obamas immigration actions. The judge said that the administrations programs would impose major burdens on states, unleashing illegal immigration and straining state budgets, and that the administration had not followed required procedures for changing federal rules.
