Judge asked to drop contempt threat
Washington — Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson asked a federal judge not to find him and other Obama administration officials in contempt after his agency recovered work permits mistakenly issued after the court halted President Barack Obama’s immigration initiative.
Johnson said the government reclaimed all but 22 of the 2,500 offending permits and corrected federal computer databases to invalidate the rest, according to a report filed late Friday in federal court in Brownsville, Texas. Administration lawyers said the effort should prove Johnson and other top immigration officials have been sufficiently compliant to head off a contempt hearing the judge set for later this month.
U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen ordered the program stopped until a trial can be held in a lawsuit by 26 states. He has repeatedly chastised White House lawyers and immigration officials for their “cavalier attitude” about violating his order and accused them of dragging their feet.
Led by Texas, the states sued over Obama’s unilateral change to U.S. immigration policy, announced last November. The initiative is designed to bring as many as 5 million undocumented immigrants “out of the shadows” by shielding them from deportation and providing them with three-year work permits.
To qualify for the program, immigrants must have lived in the U.S. for at least five years and be the parent of an American citizen, or have been brought here as children themselves. They must also pass criminal background checks.
Hanen warned the administration that he’ll find officials in contempt if he decides they intentionally misled him.
Hanen blocked the program after finding the administration skipped required rule-making procedures before putting its plan into effect. He put off until trial considering the states’ claim that Obama overstepped his constitutional authority.
The White House argued that it has authority to prioritize immigration resources however it sees fit, without the approval of Congress or the courts.