Why 17 States Have Gone to Court Over Obama’s Action on Illegal Immigration

A third of the states have taken federal immigration enforcement agencies to court, challenging President Obama’s executive actions granting legal status to millions of illegal immigrants.

Led by Texas Attorney General and Gov.-elect Greg Abbott, a coalition of 17 states filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration yesterday in U.S. District Court in Texas.

Abbott,  a Republican who appeared on Fox News today, said Obama’s executive actions violated the U.S. Constitution.

The suit contends that Obama circumvented Congress by allowing about 5 million illegal immigrants to remain and work in the United States without the threat of deportation. The president, Abbott argues, is required to go through Congress to make such exceptions to current law.

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The 17 states making up the coalition include states near the southern border but also span the country: Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Obama’s announcement of his unilateral actions late last month angered many Republicans and some Democrats in Congress. Republicans are looking to block the president’s executive amnesty through the budget process.

Lawmakers must pass a spending bill by Dec. 11 or face the prospect of another partial shutdown of government. Republicans are pushing a proposal that funds most of the government through September 2015, the end of the fiscal year, but funds the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees enforcement of immigration law, for no more than a few months.

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