Nathan Koppel, Wall Street Journal, March 24, 2015

A federal appellate court Tuesday agreed to hear an expedited appeal of a ruling by a federal judge in Texas that blocked President Barack Obama’s immigration actions.

Granting the Obama administration’s request for an expedited appeal, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hold a hearing on April 17 to consider the administration’s challenge to a ruling last month that temporarily blocked it from implementing a sweeping program to defer deportations and grant other benefits for people in the country illegally. The court will consider whether to stay the injunction at the hearing.

In a ruling last month, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen of Brownsville, Texas, sided with officials from 26 largely Republican states who contend the president overstepped his authority when he took the action in November without congressional approval.

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If the Fifth Circuit issues a stay, it would allow the administration to continue laying the groundwork for its Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents program, which would permit about four million people in the country illegally to apply for deferred deportation and work authorizations.

A stay also would allow the administration to expand a 2012 program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA, which allows relief for people brought to the U.S. as children.

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