Texas led a group of 17 states Wednesday in suing the Obama administration over its recent executive actions on immigration. Texas Attorney General and Governor-elect Greg Abbott said the U.S. Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power to act on immigration policy. Abbott filed the lawsuit in federal court in the Southern District of Texas. He was joined by Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin. President Barack Obama’s Nov. 20 announcement would shield as many as 5 million people who are in the country illegally from being deported. Congressional Republicans said the move essentially killed any prospect of passing comprehensive immigration reform. The Associated Press reports that the lawsuit claims that Obama violated the “Take Care Clause” of the U.S. Constitution — which limits the scope of presidential power — that the federal government violated rule-making procedures and that the order will “exacerbate the humanitarian crisis along the southern border …”
Mark Richardson is a multimedia journalist, editor and writer who has worked in digital, print and broadcast media for three decades. He is a nationally recognized editor and reporter who has covered government,... More by Mark Richardson