WASHINGTON, December 25 (Sputnik) – The US Department of Justice has urged a Texas court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by 24 states challenging US President Barack Obama's executive action on immigration.
"Through the present lawsuit, twenty States, four governors, and the Attorney General of Michigan seek to overturn and effectively commandeer federal enforcement prerogatives, including through the injunction of the deferred action policies announced on November 20," a copy of the 75-page court document the Justice Department provided to Sputnik said.
Earlier this month, 17 mostly Republican US states led by Texas filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Obama administration's November 20 executive action on immigration. The lawsuit was later joined by seven more states that doubted the legality of Obama's executive action to grant up to 5 million illegal immigrants deferred action – or the right to stay in the United States temporarily under certain conditions.
In its legal response, the Department of Justice said the US Supreme Court has recognized the government's practice of deferred action and administrative discretion on the basis of "humanitarian reasons or simply for [the administration's] own convenience".
According to the Justice Department, the executive action is "not subject to judicial review" and that the plaintiffs" "generalized complaints of harm are speculative, conclusory, and therefore inadequate".
Obama's executive action aims to prevent up to five million of illegal immigrants from being deported from the United States. The measure would give an opportunity to illegal immigrants who have lived in the country for more than five years and parents of children who are US citizens or legal residents to apply to stay in the United States temporarily. Applicants would have to pass a background check and pay taxes.
Members of the US Republican party are sharp critics of Obama's executive action and have questioned the president's authority to take unilateral steps to solve the immigration problem in the country.
