Week of Nov. 16-22, 2015

5th Circuit rules immigration policy unconstitutional

AUSTIN — A three-judge panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Nov. 9 affirmed a Brownsville federal district judge’s Feb. 15, 2015, order forbidding the Obama administration’s implementation of DAPA, the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Residents Program. 

Against the wishes of Congress, the White House sent out a memorandum in November 2014 extending the reach of the policy include to more people.

Gov. Greg Abbott reacted to the Fifth Circuit ruling  on Nov. 10, saying: “The court’s decision is a vindication for the Rule of Law and the Constitution. The president’s job is to enforce the immigration laws, not rewrite them. President Obama should abandon his lawless executive amnesty program and start enforcing the law today.”

In affirming the lower court’s ruling, the Fifth Circuit sided with Texas and 25 other states that sued to prevent the implementation of DAPA on three grounds:

1. That DAPA violated the procedural requirements of the federal Administrative Procedures Act as a substantive rule that did not undergo the requisite notice and comment;

2. That the U.S. Department of Homeland Security lacked the authority to implement the program even if it followed the correct rule-making process; and

3. That DAPA was an abrogation of the president’s constitutional duty to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”

The trial court and subsequent appellate court actions stem from the Department of Homeland Security’s implementation of DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a 2012 executive order by President Obama.

According to the Fifth Circuit majority opinion, under DACA, at least 1.2 million people who are “lawfully present” in the U.S. may qualify for Social Security retirement, Social Security disability benefits and health insurance under Part A of the Medicare program, but those who are “unlawfully present” are generally not eligible to receive federal public benefits. 

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest on Nov. 10 said the Obama administration would file an appeal of the Fifth Circuit’s ruling with the U.S. Supreme Court.

SCOTUS to hear HB 2 suit

A lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Texas’ 2013 House Bill 2 that revised the state’s abortion law will be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2016, the court announced Nov. 13.

In Whole Women’s Health et al. v. Texas Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Kirk Cole et al., plaintiffs contest the law’s new restrictions requiring an abortion-performing doctor to have admitting privileges at a hospital no more than 30 miles from the clinic and requiring clinics that provide abortions to have facilities meet strict guidelines as ambulatory surgical centers. 

Planned Parenthood Texas said if the high court does not reverse a Fifth Circuit ruling that allows the law to stand, “it would leave the 5.4 million women of reproductive age in Texas with only 10 health centers that provide safe, legal abortion in the entire state, down from approximately 40 health centers before the passage of the dangerous law.”

Gov. Abbott on Oct. 19 announced an initiative calling for the elimination of taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.

Abbott comments on Paris

French officials confirmed the deaths of 127 people and the hospitalization of an estimated 300 hundred others in Nov. 13 terrorist attacks at six sites in a small section of Paris. 

Gov. Abbott issued the following statement:

“Today’s despicable attacks in France are an assault to all of humanity, and the world must unite to condemn acts of terrorism on every front. My office has been in contact with DPS and federal authorities who will continue to monitor the situation in Texas. Additionally, I have spoken with the Consulate General of France in Houston to offer any and all assistance on behalf of the State of Texas. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the victims and all those affected in France tonight."

Speaker names committee

Texas House Speaker Joe Straus on Nov. 9 formed the House Select Committee on Mental Health to study the state’s behavioral health system for children and adults.

Straus instructed the panel to study substance abuse treatment and recommend ways to improve early identification of mental illness, increase collaboration among entities that deliver care, methods to measure and improve outcomes, and ways to improve care in underserved and rural areas, and for veterans and the homeless.

Panel members include Rep. Four Price, R-Amarillo, chair; Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, vice chair; and Reps. Greg Bonnen, R-Galveston; Garnet Coleman, D-Houston; Sarah Davis, R-Houston; Rick Galindo, D-San Antonio; Sergio Muñoz, D-Mission; Andy Murr, R-Kerrville; Toni Rose, D-Dallas; Kenneth Sheets, R-Dallas; Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston; Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie; and James White, R-Woodville.