Last night's news that the arch-conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the president's executive orders on immigration may be the least surprising news of the week.
The Department of Justice announced today that they will appeal the case to the Supreme Court where I personally believe the Obama administration will be victorious.
“The department disagrees with the Fifth Circuit’s adverse ruling and intends to seek further review from the Supreme Court of the United States,” Department of Justice spokesman Patrick Rodenbush said in a statement. [...]
Once the Justice Department files a petition for the high court to hear the case, Texas and 25 other states suing over the programs will have 30 days to file an opposition brief.
If almost any other circuit court had heard the case I believe the injunction blocking the president's orders would have been struck down last night, but the group of states led by Texas filed their lawsuit in Texas for a reason. They were court shopping for a panel of judges that would more than likely rule in their favor.
Finding a sympathetic panel of right wing judges was necessary for them because their arguments are so weak. The group of states have argued, among other things, that deferred action and deportation relief will necessarily lead to an increase in local crime which states will be responsible for policing. This, they say, is why the federal government must not defer action against undocumented immigrants; because they're all criminals in waiting.
Those claims haven't been substantiated but I don't think very many people expected the conservative 5th Circuit to care about evidence or a lack thereof.
The idea that all undocumented immigrants are vicious criminals is reflected in the rhetoric of Republican presidential candidates such as Donald Trump who has said Mexico is flooding America with rapists.
The administration's argument is that deferred action actually allows the government to focus more of its resources on violent criminals rather than undocumented workers and families who are just looking for a job and minding their own business.