Texas governor expects immigration ruling to stick

Top Texas officials took a victory lap Wednesday, celebrating this week’s judicial order blocking enforcement of President Barack Obama’s actions on immigration and predicting that this win in U.S. District Court won’t be their last.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said he’s confident the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will side with Texas and 25 other states in trying to halt Obama’s efforts to let some undocumented immigrants receive work permits and a temporary form of legal status. The administration has said it will immediately appeal the ruling.


“It is abundantly clear that the Obama administration has violated the Administrative Procedure Act. And on that issue alone we will win all the way up through the appellate ranks,” Abbott said in a news conference at the Texas Capitol, referring to a statute that governs what the executive branch can do when it makes new rules. “That ruling will be held up on appeal.”

Abbott was joined by fellow Republicans Sen. Ted Cruz, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and state Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The appeals court decision could come next week and will have an immediate impact on Capitol Hill, where Republicans and Democrats are deadlocked over a House-passed bill that would fund the Department of Homeland Security past Feb. 27, but block Obama’s immigration actions. If the court stays District Judge Andrew Hanen’s temporary injunction, the battle over Obama’s immigration policies could shift from the courts and back to congressional efforts to confront the president.

Or if Abbott is correct, Republicans in Congress could find a way out of their DHS funding fight and leave the battle against Obama to the courts.

But Cruz indicated he will continue taking a hard line regardless of the legal machinations. After running against Obama’s immigration policies last fall, House and Senate Republicans now must “honor the promises we made to voters” and block his actions, Cruz said.

“Senate Democrats should look very closely at this opinion and decide whether they want to jeopardize national security,” Cruz said.

Democratic aides say Senate Democrats, who have filibustered the House bill three times, will not change their position during a fourth vote on Monday.