A 17-state coalition led by Texas Attorney General and Governor-elect Greg Abbott has decided to sue the Obama administration over the president's recent executive actions on immigration, the Associated Press reported. They are not seeking monetary damages, but instead want the courts to block Obama's actions.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, Abbott said Obama's move to act unilaterally in offering deportation relief to millions of undocumented immigrants "tramples" key portions of the "U.S. Constitution's Take Care Clause and federal law."
Two weeks ago, Obama suspended deportation of 5 million undocumented immigrants and expanded policy of "deferred action" on deportation of illegal immigrants who came to the country as children, as well as for parents of U.S. citizens and permanent legal residents, The Hill reported.
Despite Republican lawmakers' repeated warnings that Obama taking executive action on immigration will poison relations with the new GOP-led legislature, the president bypassed Congress and moved ahead unilaterally on immigration, granting what they claim is "amnesty" to people who came to the country illegally.
But on Wednesday, a formal legal challenge in federal court in the Southern District of Texas was filed by Abbott, joined by 16 other mostly conservative states, including Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Obama's actions "directly violate a fundamental promise to the American people" and that it was up to the president to "execute the law, not de facto make law," Abbott said in a statement.
The lawsuit raises three objections: "that Obama violated the 'Take Care Clause' of the U.S. Constitution that Abbott said limits the scope of presidential power; that the federal government didn't follow proper rulemaking procedures; and that the order will 'exacerbate the humanitarian crisis along the southern border, which will affect increased state investment in law enforcement, health care and education,'" the AP reported.
"Texas has been at the epicenter of the results of the president's executive action," said Abbott .
Earlier this week, House Majority Leader John Boehner told lawmakers the GOP-led House "may vote to undo Obama's executive action, but the move would be mostly symbolic, as Obama would certainly veto such legislation and the Democratic-led Senate wouldn't go for it, either," according to the AP.
Abbott, the Republican elected to succeed outgoing Gov. Rick Perry next year, had promised to bring the lawsuit since Obama announced his executive actions last month. This will mark the 31st time he has sued the federal government since Obama took office, accoriding to NBC News.
