A Texas-based judge who has temporarily blocked President Obama's executive amnesty order has delayed his final decision in order to investigate the administration's awarding of three-year amnesties to 100,000 illegal immigrants after saying it would not take such a step.
U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen announced the delay on Monday.
On Feb. 16, Hanen temporarily froze Obama's executive amnesty after concluding that it likely violated the federal government's public comment rules.
That amnesty provided tax rebates, work permits, U.S. residency and membership in the Social Security system to at least four million illegals with children lawfully in the country and would also provide work permits to approximately 1 million younger illegals brought into the United States by their parents,
the Daily Caller noted.
Monday's decision by Hanen followed a legal request by Texas Attorney general Ken Paxton for a probe into the Obama administration's admission that it had allowed some 100,000 illegals to obtain extended amnesty documents early.
"In an apparent attempt to quickly execute President Obama’s unlawful, unconstitutional amnesty plan, the Obama Administration appears to have already been issuing expanded work permits, in direct contradiction to what they told a federal judge previously in this litigation,"
Paxton said in a statement about the request, which had been signed by 26 states.
Texas and 25 other states challenging Obama's executive amnesty said the approvals were a stunning revelation that appeared to contradict what administration attorneys had said in court papers and conference calls when they indicated that no applications would be accepted under the expanded amnesty before Feb. 18 and that none would be approved until early March,
The Washington Times reported last week.
Judge Hanen ordered administration lawyers to appear in his courtroom on March 19 to explain the rushed award of work permits to 100,000 illegals.
The delay will postpone the judge's final decision on the legality of Obama's amnesty announced in November until well past March 19. It also pushes back the eventual review and decision by appellate courts. The Supreme Court is expected to decide the issue sometime next year.
The delay could also open the door for another congressional battle at the end of this year over stripping funds for Obama's executive amnesty from Homeland Security Department funding legislation.
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