On February 16, 2015, a Federal Judge in Texas granted a temporary injunction which stops implementation of President Obama’s recent executive action which sought to grant relief from deportation to up to 5 million undocumented immigrants. The Federal Judge’s ruling was based on a lawsuit filed by 24 state governments, including the state of Texas.

The Judge found that the Federal Government had violated Administrative Procedure Act’s requirement that a proposed rule or regulation be published in the Federal Register so people have a chance to submit comments. Opposing this lawsuit was the U.S. Justice Department, which argued that this requirement does not apply to “interpretative rules” or general statements of policy.

The U.S. Department of Justice has already announced that it will appeal the decision to the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

Immigration advocates are confident that federal courts will ultimately approve President Obama’s executive measures to provide relief from deportation to millions of undocumented immigrants.

In the meantime, the USCIS halted its plans to begin accepting new applicants for expanded DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) on February 18. USCIS has also placed on hold plans to implement DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents), which was originally scheduled to start on May 19, 2015.

The Federal Judge’s temporary injunction, however, does not affect the existing DACA procedures that were implemented in 2012. Individuals may continue to come forward and request an initial grant of DACA or renewal of DACA under the 2012 guidelines.

I.A. Donoso & Associates will be monitoring the upcoming developments in the appeal process and updating our website with the latest information.”

Please contact I.A. Donoso & Associates should you have any questions.

President Barack Obama shows the Resolute Desk to a group of DREAMers, following their Oval Office meeting in which they talked about how they have benefited from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, Feb. 4, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)