Andrew Hanen, the federal judge from Southern District of Texas has granted an injunction blocking the implementation of President Obama’s administration sweeping executive action on immigration from November, which offered a form of temporary legal status and work authorization to millions of illegal immigrants.  

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a tweet “Breaking: Federal judge just granted my request to halt Obama’s Executive Amnesty Order Nationwide,” “More later.” – Abbott had filed suit in December on behalf of Texas and other states opposed to the presidential actions.

Colorado state Sen. Greg Brophy, a Republican, tweeted, “judge agrees with House GOP and most of America.”

Obama angered Republicans when he announced in November that he would use the executive branch to temporarily delay deportation for as many as 5 million people who came to the United States illegally.

The temporary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen cites a failure by the White House to comply with a law detailing how the federal government must establish regulations, according to legal documents and the Austin American-Statesman.

The federal government is expected to immediately ask for a stay of the injunction. That would allow the feds to resume the process of preparing to grant quasi-legal status to millions of illegal immigrants — applications for one category of the president amnesty were to open this week. For now, that can’t happen; the decision from a higher court will probably take a few weeks.

Whatever the final decision is, this ruling should a bit of ammunition for Republicans who are currently trying to force some Democrats into agreeing to a government-funding bill in Congress that blocks the implementation of the order, which many Democrats once opposed.

Josh Blackman, a University of South Texas law professor who’s written about the executive-amnesty issue for NR, has analysis of the full ruling here.

The lawsuit just challenges the executive action announced in November, which offers “deferred action” status, a form of theoretically temporary legal residency and work authorization, to illegal immigrants with specific ties to the U.S. — the parents of citizens, etc. The categories in all add up to 4 to 5 million eligible illegal aliens.

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