[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Tuesday that the injunction against President Barack Obama’s recent executive action on immigration [official website] should remain in effect pending appeal. Many of the initiatives, which would have provided relief from deportation to more than 4 million undocumented immigrants, were set to begin this month. Instead, in February, Judge Andrew Hanen of the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas [official website] granted an injunction [opinion] to a Texas-led 26-state coalition, determining [JURIST report] that difficulty of enforcement was no excuse to shirk the requirements of the law. The Obama administration appealed the ruling, and separately requested that the injunction be removed while the appeal is pending. In an opinion written by Judge Jerry Smith, the Fifth Circuit upheld the injunction for the duration of the appeal, recognizing the states’ standing to bring the suit as well as rejecting an argument by the administration to limit the injunction to the states involved in the suit. A different panel of judges on the Fifth Circuit will hear argument on the appeal of the greater case later this year.

Last month the same district court declined to lift [JURIST report] the February order blocking the executive actions. In November Obama announced two new immigration programs [text], purportedly under his executive authority as president. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) would lift the threat of deportation for about 4.7 million undocumented residents by allowing immigrants that have been in the US for more than five years or have children who are citizens to register and pass a criminal background check in order to stay in the country. In March the US Department of Justice urged [JURIST report] the Fifth Circuit to reverse the injunction blocking the president’s immigration executive action.