Judge: Sanctions possible in Obama immigration court case

[TexasTowelie]

Source: AP

BROWNSVILLE — A federal judge who has blocked President Barack Obama’s immigration executive action suggested on Thursday that he could order sanctions against the Justice Department if he rules it mislead him about when exactly the administration began implementing one of the measures.

During a sometimes testy court hearing, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen went back and forth with the Justice Department over whether it had mislead him into believing that a key part of Obama’s program would not be implemented before he made a ruling on a request for a preliminary injunction. In fact, federal officials had given more than 108,000 people three-year reprieves from deportation before that date and granted them work permits under a program that protects young immigrants from deportation if they were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Obama’s executive actions would spare from deportation as many as 5 million people who are in the U.S. illegally. Many Republicans oppose the actions, saying only Congress has the right to take such sweeping action. Twenty-six states led by Texas joined together to challenge them as unconstitutional. Hanen on Feb. 16 sided with the states, issuing a preliminary injunction blocking Obama’s actions.

Hanen chided Justice Department attorney Kathleen Hartnett on Thursday for telling him at a January hearing before the injunction was issued that nothing would be happening with regard to one key part of Obama’s actions, an expansion of the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, until Feb. 18.

Read more: http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2015-03-19/judge-sanctions-possible-obama-immigration-court-case#.VQursuHy3SI

[C Moon]

1. "U.S. Judge Andrew Hanen has history of opposing Obama immigration policies"

U.S. Judge Andrew Hanen has history of opposing Obama immigration policies

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-immigration-lawsuit-hanen-20150217-story.html

Many immigrant advocates were not surprised to see a conservative federal judge in south Texas issue an injunction late Monday temporarily blocking President Obama’s program to defer deportation for nearly 5 million immigrants living in the United States illegally.

U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen has developed a reputation as an outspoken judicial critic of the Obama administration's immigration policies.

“What we’re seeing with this judge is a trend of him advocating for policies that are targeting specifically immigrant communities,” said Cristina Jimenez, New York-based co-founder and managing director of the immigrant advocacy group United We Dream.

[msanthrope]

2. Oopsie. Too bad, judge....nt

[DesertDiamond]

3. I'm sorry, but I just have to say this. Even writers for AP can't spell anymore? Misled, not mislead

[TexasTowelie]

4. You are correct.

In the context of the sentence it should be "misled" since it is in the past tense. However, "mislead" is correct for the present or future tense. That is why spell-check did not note an error.

[davidpdx]

5. Maybe another attempt by Republicans at impeaching Obama

[TexasTowelie]

6. Hello David,

I think that the GOP realized that they aren't going to be able to impeach Obama without it appearing as a partisan hatchet move. However, they are biding their time with the intention of making the President look as bad as possible with the allegations that he is either a Marxist or a Muslim or a combination of both.

[davidpdx]

7. Could be

[wellstone dem]

8. What actually happened

The 2012 DACA program was not subject to this law suit or ruling.

The 2014 Executive Action said that DACA could now be issued for 3 years, not just 2 years.

There were many people who had received 2012 DACA who were in the process of renewing their 2012 DACA which expires after 2 years. Some of the 2012 DACA renewals approved after November 20 and before the judge's order in February were issued for 3 years. Once the judge's order was issued, DACA renewals and new 2012 DACA applications were issued for 2 years again.

If you read the article the government attorney makes clear that there was no intent to mislead. Everyone was focused on the 2014 DACA expanded eligibility. No 2014 DACA applications were even submitted prior to the judge's order.