Texas Leads the Push Against Obama’s Immigration Action

Attorney General Ken Paxton joins Texas Standard to talk about the ongoing court challenge to President Obama’s executive order, which would change the immigration status of five million undocumented residents.

By Rhonda FanningMarch 22, 2015 9:20 pm

After a federal judge in Brownsville ruled to temporarily block the president’s executive order in February, 25 other states have signed on to the lawsuit.

The 26 state coalition, led by Texas, claims the Obama administration’s actions were unconstitutional, in that they represent an overreach by the executive and impose an “undue burden” on the state.

The Department of Justice was hoping to take their case to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to get the injunction lifted. Instead, the department found themselves back in a Texas courtroom last week.

Joining the Texas Standard with the latest on the case is Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

“This is a federal issue, and the federal government has repeatedly argued that it’s a federal issue, so it effects the entire country,” Paxton says. “They’ve often made just the opposite argument and only on this particular case does it seem that they only want it to apply to Texas.”

“There’s 26 states that are a part of this lawsuit, so certainly those states should be a part of this,” Paxton says. “I don’t see any great argument or great reason for the country to be treated differently, depending on where you live.”

In addition to the financial impact on things such as healthcare and education, Paxton says there’s the basic costs of printing new driver licenses, as well as providing education, health care and law enforcement for immigrant population.

“There is a financial impact on our state,” Paxton says. “This isn’t being calculated into the cost of running our state, and I don’t exactly know how it will work if this actually goes through.”