Bid to halt Obama's immigration plan likely to fail, legal experts say

"A Texas judge’s freeze on Barack Obama’s plan to shield millions of immigrants from deportation likely won’t last long, legal experts say, meaning Republicans who oppose the executive action will have to look away from the courts for help. Federal judge Andrew Hanen issued an injunction late Monday night that prevented the Department of Homeland Security from implementing a program that could defer deportations for more than 4 million people, but the courts have long sided with presidents on such issues, Cornell law professor and immigration expert Steve Yale-Loehr said.  Not only have presidents as philosophically opposed as Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama deferred deportations without issue in the past, but Congress and the courts have long agreed that “the president has broad executive authority” to decide how to enforce immigration laws, Yale-Loehr said.  “There’s a lot of case law that says immigration agencies have leeway to interpret these rules,” Yale-Loehr said.  “Deferred action as a program has existed for many years, and the administration argues that applying it to mothers and children is an interpretation of the rules.” " - Guardian, Feb. 17, 2015.