|
 The case led by Texas and supported by several other
Republican-controlled states said President Barack Obama's executive
order in November violated U.S. constitutional limits on
presidential powers.
The hearing will be at the U.S. District Court in Brownsville.
The White House has said Obama was acting within his presidential
authority when he issued the order.
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 about 4.4 million who are parents of U.S.
citizens and legal permanent residents.
Texas Governor-elect Greg Abbott, a Republican and former state
attorney general, said the lawsuit asked for the president's order
to be declared illegal and did not seek monetary damages.
 "This lawsuit is not about immigration. It is about the rule of law,
presidential power, and the structural limits of the U.S.
Constitution," the plaintiffs said in court documents.
Earlier this week, a dozen states led by Washington state Attorney
General Bob Ferguson filed a brief defending Obama's policies.
Ferguson, a Democrat, said the president's action benefited
Washington and other states by improving public safety, keeping
families together and aiding their economies.
[to top of second column] |
"Hard working, tax paying immigrants can now emerge from the
shadows," Ferguson said in a statement.
On Wednesday, the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives
approved a Department of Homeland Security spending bill that
included amendments that would block Obama's immigration
initiatives. The bill next goes to the U.S. Senate.
The amendments would prohibit spending for the president's November
order and reverse his 2012 initiative to defer the deportation of
more than 600,000 immigrants brought to the United States illegally
as children.
(Reporting by Lisa Maria Garza; Editing by Peter Cooney)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
