FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS ADVISORY
April 8, 2015
For More Information, contact:
Luther Strange
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Alabama Attorney General
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Claire Haynes (334) 242-7351
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ATTORNEY GENERAL LUTHER STRANGE PRAISES
FEDERAL JUDGE DECISION TO CONTINUE HOLD ON
EXECUTIVE AMNESTY ORDER
(MONTGOMERY) – Attorney General Luther Strange praised a decision by a Texas federal
judge to continue a hold on President Obama’s executive order that effectively grants amnesty to
millions of undocumented immigrants in the United States.
“U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen ruled late Tuesday to continue a February 17, 2015, hold he
placed on the Obama administration’s executive amnesty order,” Attorney General Strange said.
“The judge’s decision to deny the administration’s request to lift the hold is the right course of
action as the legality of the president’s amnesty order is challenged in federal court by Alabama
and 25 other states.
“The Obama administration has demonstrated a pattern of disregard of the constitutional limits
of its authority and the president’s November 20, 2014, amnesty order which usurped
Congressional approval was illegal and should be halted. A bipartisan majority of the states is
determined to hold the administration accountable in federal court.”
On December 3, 2014, Alabama joined a federal lawsuit, Texas v. U.S., challenging the
constitutionality of President Obama’s executive amnesty order. The multi-state lawsuit makes
clear the issue is not about immigration, but rather the rule of law, presidential power, and the
enforcement of the U.S. Constitution. By his own action and contrary to laws passed by
Congress, the President “issued a directive that legalizes the presence of approximately 40% of
the known undocumented immigrant population, and affords them legal rights and
benefitsÖThat unilateral suspension of the Nation’s immigration laws is unlawful,” the lawsuit
asserts.
Joining Texas in the lawsuit 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.
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