Obama Immigration Update: Judge Hanen Denies Obama Request, Says DOJ 'Misled' Him

Judge Andrew Hanen denied an Obama administration request to lift a temporary hold on an immigration program that would give 5 million undocumented residents reprieve from deportation. In a midnight decision on Tuesday the Texas District Court Judge not only denied the request, but also admonished Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyers hearing the case on behalf of the Obama administration saying that they “mislead” him in a previous hearing. The latest bout of tension could be the last between White House lawyers and Judge Hanen over this specific immigration lawsuit, Texas vs. The United States, which is moving up to the 5th Circuit Court on April 17th.

Hanen is the original author of a Feb. 16th injunction that stopped a broad immigration program announced by President Obama last November 20th. Hanen sided with 26 states who sued the White House over a program called Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). Deferred action give qualifying undocumented residents limited and temporary legal status (for two years), protection from deportation and the benefit of a work permit. They remain ineligible for most government benefits such as student loans and food stamps and or housing subsidies.

The 2015 DAPA would have been an expansion of the 2012 DACA (Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals), a more narrow legal relief program that applied only to children who were brought to the U.S. when they were children, grew up there, and graduated from high school or joined the military. Arguably, it was an executive-order version of the DREAM Act, the least controversial unpassed immigration bill floated around the Hill in the last decade. Yet according to Judge Hanen, the new DAPA program contained a provision the DOJ did not inform him about. That part of the program extended the length of DACA protection. Hanen said that the government dodged fact in the courtroom, and hid an aspect of the case that affected 100,000 immigrants.

“The Court finds that the Government’’s multiple statements on this subject were indeed misleading, as detailed in the Order filed simultaneously with this Order. It also finds that the remedial measure taken by counsel for the Government through the filing of an ““advisory”” on March 3, 2015, was neither prompt nor fully candid,” Hanen wrote in the ruling.

Government attorney Kathleen R. Hartnett immediately apologized to the judge, saying that it was a misunderstanding and not intentional deceit. Hanen might could have sanctioned the administration, but he went on to say that he wouldn’t dole out any major punishment.

“Despite this, a sanction as severe as striking the Government’’s pleadings, while perhaps merited based upon the Government’’s misconduct, would not at this juncture be in the interests of justice or in the best interest of this country.”