FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS ADVISORY
May 26, 2015
For More Information, contact:
Luther Strange
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Alabama Attorney General
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ALABAMA ATTORNEY GENERAL LUTHER STRANGE WELCOMES FEDERAL
APPEALS COURT DECISION UPHOLDING BARRIER TO OBAMA
ADMINISTRATION EXECUTIVE AMNESTY
(MONTGOMERY) – Attorney General Luther Strange welcomed a federal appeals court
decision Tuesday not to lift a hold on President Obama’s controversial executive amnesty
program, preventing the administration from pursuing its goal of granting benefits to
millions of undocumented aliens without the consent of Congress.
“America is a country founded upon the rule of law and no man has the authority to usurp
the law, not even a president who is determined to bend the law to suit his political agenda,”
Attorney General Strange said. “This ruling sends a strong signal that the administration’s
days of running roughshod over the Constitution may be limited.”
Today, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied the
administration’s motion to stay a February 16, 2015, lower court ruling that placed executive
amnesty on hold pending the resolution of a 26-state lawsuit against the Obama
administration.
In December, Texas and 25 other states, including Alabama, launched a federal court
challenge of the Obama administration’s executive amnesty order. The states maintain that
the administration’s executive amnesty order goes beyond a routine enforcement decision
because its impact has significant legal consequences, such as granting aliens “lawful
presence” in the United States and “creating eligibility for numerous benefits – including
Social Security, Medicare, and the Earned Income Tax Credit.” The Fifth Circuit held that the
Administration cannot “grant class-wide lawful presence and eligibility for accompanying
benefits.”
Joining Texas in the lawsuit challenging the Obama administration’s executive amnesty are
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine,
Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio,
Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
501 Washington Avenue * Montgomery, AL 36104 * (334) 242-7300
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