A coalition of 17 U.S. states have sued the Obama administration on saying it acted illegally by issuing an executive order to ease the threat of deportation for millions of immigrants who are living in the country without the proper documents. Reuters report:
The case being led by Texas and filed at the Federal Court in the Southern District of Texas said the executive order announced by Obama last month violated constitutional limits on presidential powers. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, a Republican and the Texas governor-elect, said the lawsuit is not asking for monetary damages but is seeking to have the order declared illegal.
The White House has said the executive order falls within presidential powers, and has argued that the ultimate answer is for Congress to pass meaningful immigration reform.
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President Barack Obama’s plan would let up to 4.7 million of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States stay without threat of deportation, including some 4.4 million who are parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents.
“The President is abdicating his responsibility to faithfully enforce laws that were duly enacted by Congress and attempting to rewrite immigration laws, which he has no authority to do,” Abbott said.
